In one of the most incredible and exciting endings you’ll ever see in the UEFA Champions League, Benfica managed to qualify for the playoffs thanks to a last-minute goal scored by goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin against Real Madrid. The side coached by Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho qualified in the last minute thanks to a 4-2 victory against the Spanish giants that also ended up with nine players after both Raul Asencio and Rodrygo were sent off in the final minutes of the match. Benfica will now face either Inter or Real Madrid next month in the playoffs, both clubs having previously been managed by Mourinho.
Trubin became the fifth different goalkeeper to score a UEFA Champions League goal, after Jorg Butt (three goals scored), Sinan Bolat, Vincent Enyeama, and Ivan Provedel.
Coming up for a late free kick, the goalkeeper headed home with absolute precision. Here it is:
The match was simply incredible with the guests opening the score with Kylian Mbappe in the first half before two goals scored by the home side with Andreas Schjelderup and the penalty converted by Vangelis Pavlidis before the end of the first half.
During the second 45 minutes, Schjelderup scored the third goal for Benfica before Mbappe’s second goal of the night in Lisbon. It looked like it was over for Mourinho’s side, as the 3–2 scoreline wasn’t enough to reach the playoffs with Olympique Marseille level on goal difference.
However, a stunning late winner from their goalkeeper turned everything around, sending Benfica into the playoffs. There, they will face either Inter or Real Madrid, with Alvaro Arbeloa’s side finishing ninth in the standings, just outside the top eight, and forced into the playoff round ahead of the knockout stages.
“When I made the last changes, [Franjo] Ivanovic and Antonio Silva, I was told [that] is enough, so let’s close the door. When I made the changes a few seconds later, they tell me we need one more goal, but I cannot make more changes, so that was the lucky point to get a free kick that allows us to go there with the big guy,” Mourinho said after the game. What a night under the lights in Europe.
Napoli out of the tournament
Elsewhere, Antonio Conte’s Napoli are out of the Champions League. The 2024-25 Serie A champions lost 3-2 at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona against Chelsea and are now eliminated from the tournament. The Azzurri conceded the opening goal to Chelsea, a penalty converted by Enzo Fernandez, before scoring two goals in the first half with Antonio Vergara and Rasmus Hojlund. However, things became more challenging in the second half, when Joao Pedro’s brace cost Napoli their qualification for the playoffs. After losing 3-0 to Juventus last weekend, this was another major setback for Napoli’s ambitions this season as the Azzurri are now nine points behind Inter in the Serie A standings after winning the Scudetto last campaign in the first season of Conte at the new club.
The biggest disappointment
While Napoli’s situation was already difficult ahead of the last matchday of the league phase, as they entered the last game with a minus-five goal difference, there were different expectations on Roberto De Zerbi’s Olympique Marseille that lost 3-0 away against Club Brugge, losing their spot to qualify for the playoffs. Despite the disappointing result and thanks to what was happening around Europe, De Zerbi’s side only lost their spot with the goal scored by Benfica’s goalkeeper in the last minute of the game against Real Madrid, showing that this team was probably not expecting such result in the last minutes even when their game was already over. For the Italian manager and Marseille, this was a “night to forget” according to the club sport director Medhi Benatia.
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