Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid
Before the game, it was all niceties between Benfica manager Jose Mourinho and Real Madrid counterpart Alvaro Arbeloa, but a bad-tempered, and foul encounter unfolded in the second half. For Arbeloa, it obscured an overall successful night for his side.
Benfica looked to strike some fear into Real Madrid early on, going direct and at pace at their backline to begin with, but after a frantic first ten minutes, Los Blancos settled into the match. Vinicius Junior swivelled and put a shot wide after a deflected cross just after. Thibaut Courtois made the first big save of the game though, getting down low to his left to halt a strong Fredrik Aursnes effort.
After the opening 20 minutes, both sides seemed primarily concerned with ensuring they weren’t broken on, defending their own box deep, and allowing the opposition the ball 30 yards out. There was a sense that neither was completely watertight, and Arda Guler was the closest to unpicking the Portuguese defence. After several ‘almost’ passes through the backline, he found Trent Alexander-Arnold down the right side. His ball zipped agonisingly past Kylian Mbappe’s outstretched boot for what surely would have been the opener.
Before the break, Real Madrid began to turn the screw, with Mbappe blazing over with his left after a nice flick from Vinicius, and then testing Anatoliy Trubin. All of this occurred in the final five minutes before the break, and Guler saw his effort pushes around the post by Trubin too. At the half-time whistle, it was all Real Madrid, who had caged Benfica in, but Mourinho’s side held firm.
Vinicius brilliance gives Real Madrid the edge
The second half got off to a dramatic start though, with Vinicius taking just five minutes to score one of the goals of the season. Cutting in from the left, the angle seemed too tight, but Vinicius fired the ball in an arc towards the top corner beyond Trubin. That was only the beginning of it though.
The Brazilian was booked after his celebrations, and was then involved in a war of words with Gianluca Prestianni among others. After their continued jawing, Vinicius appeared to tell the referee that he had been racially abused, and then promptly took a seat on the bench. After a delay of nearly 10 minutes, and a red card for a Benfica staff member, the game did resume. Referee Francois Letexier did activate the anti-racism protocol though.
Following the ten-minute delay, the game took some time to get going, but had an uncomfortable feel to it. Vinicius remained Real Madrid’s biggest threat on the break, with Benfica now committing more players forward. To Real Madrid’s credit, they were stout in the face of the added pressure from the hosts, with Antonio Rudiger, Dean Huijsen and Aurelien Tchouameni strong in the challenge.
It was a Vinicius challenge that sparked the second round of controversy though, as he brought down Richard Rios on the edge of the book. A furious Jose Mourinho demanded a second yellow for Vinicius, but it was he who received a second booking, and a red that will prevent him from sitting on the bench at the Santiago Bernabeu next week. From the resulting free-kick, Benfica came as close as they had all night, the deflection nearly dropping under Courtois’ bar.
Benfica did finally put Real Madrid under some pressure, but couldn’t find a final pass as the game entered stoppage time. Los Blancos displayed a level of comfort defending that had not been seen for some time, perhaps the most pleasing aspect of the night for Arbeloa. All of the focus will gravitate towards the incident between Prestianni and Vinicius, but his side were solid, mature and in control for much of the game, and will be heavy favourites at the Bernabeu – especially if they defend as they did.
