FOOTBALL – Aurelien Tchouameni and Vinicius Jr scored to help Real Madrid fight back for a 2-1 win over Benfica last night and book their Champions League last-16 spot with a 3-1 aggregate win in the knockout round playoff.
Real, who won last week’s first leg 1-0 in a match marred by Vinicius accusing Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni of directing a racist slur at him, will face Manchester City or Sporting Lisbon in the next round.
Benfica started brightly and went ahead in the 14th minute when Rafa Silva reacted quickest to turn in a rebound from close range, but Real responded almost immediately.
Gonzalo combined neatly with Federico Valverde on the right wing and the Uruguayan cut the ball back to Tchouameni, who guided a low shot inside the right post in the 16th minute.
The tie remained wide open until the 80th minute when Valverde won a loose ball in midfield and released Vinicius with a precise pass.
The Brazilian forward beat the offside trap, surged into the box and slotted into the far corner to send the record 15-times European champions into the next round.
Meanwhile, holders Paris St Germain edged into the last 16 after a 2-2 home draw with 10-man Monaco, advancing 5-4 on aggregate from a tense tie that went right to the wire.
Monaco went ahead on the stroke of halftime through Maghnes Akliouche, but after Mamadou Coulibaly was sent off, PSG took immediate advantage to equalise through Marquinhos in the 60th minute and then six minutes later went ahead through Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
But Monaco set up a furious finish when substitute Jordan Teze scored from Simon Adingra’s cross to make it 2-2 in stoppage time and Wout Faes missed a last-gasp chance to force the game into extra time as a glancing header went wide.
PSG will next month meet either Barcelona or Chelsea in the last 16.
Earlier, Lazar Samardzic smashed home a stoppage-time penalty to complete a dramatic 4-1 victory for Atalanta over Borussia Dortmund, sending the Italian side into the last 16 with a comeback 4-3 aggregate triumph.
Dortmund’s Ramy Bensebaini was sent off after his studs caught the head of Atalanta’s Nikola Krstovic in the penalty area and Samardzic converted the spot kick in the 98th minute to send the Italians through. Atalanta will now face either Arsenal or Bayern Munich in the round of 16 with the draw tomorrow.
“Everyone had written us off, but this match showed once again how strong this group is,” said Atalanta scorer and man-of-the-match Davide Zappacosta. “We always believe and we never give up.”
“Being the underdog gives you extra motivation. You try to go beyond your limits to turn things around, and we knew we could do it. It was very difficult, but we’ve shown many times how strong we are at home,” he said.
The defeat ended Dortmund’s European dreams, but Niko Kovac’s team, second in the Bundesliga, will need to bounce back quickly ahead of Saturday’s league match against leaders Bayern Munich, their last chance to challenge for any silverware this season.
The hosts had to fight back following last week’s 2-0 loss in Germany, and Gianluca Scamacca tapped in at the far post to give them a fifth-minute lead as they got off to a dream start.
Dortmund had their share of chances but it was their keeper, Gregor Kobel, who was busiest in the first half, twice denying Nicola Zalewski. He was beaten, however, on the stroke of halftime when Zappacosta’s shot was deflected into the net off Bensebaini to make it 2-0.
Atalanta keeper Marco Carnesecchi made the save of the match when he tipped Serhou Guirassy’s low drive wide in the 49th minute, to protect their two-goal advantage. Dortmund went even closer in the 53rd with Maximilian Beier’s shot bouncing off the post.
Instead it was the hosts who scored again thanks to Mario Pasalic’s header at the far post to go 3-0 up and take control of the tie.
Dortmund, however, bounced back with substitute Karim Adeyemi adding instant pace to their game and curling his 75th-minute shot into the top corner as the visitors hoped to take the contest into extra time.
Yet Bensebaini then tried to clear a cross in the box with a backheel but caught the head of Krstovic, who went down bleeding. The hosts were awarded a penalty following a lengthy VAR review and Samardzic smashed his spot kick into the top corner to send his team through with the last kick of the game.
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