JAKARTA - Real Madrid avenged their defeat by defeating Benfica 1-0 in the first playoff of the Champions League at the Da Luz Stadium, Lisbon, Wednesday, February 18, 2026 WIB. The sad thing is, Benfica coach Jose Mourinho got a red card so he was absent in the second match at Madrid's home.
The unfinished revenge for the defeat because Madrid still has to wait for the second match which will be held at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, 26 February 2026 early morning WIB. Madrid only needs a draw to eliminate Benfica who forced them to play a playoff in that match.
However, Madrid must be alert because the one-goal advantage still opens the door for Benfica to turn things around. In the duel in the qualifying phase, Benfica successfully beat nine Madrid players 4-2.
Benfica's final goal was created by goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin in injury time as Madrid lost Raul Asencio and Rodrygo for a red card. The defeat forced Madrid, who were previously in the top eight, to finally play in the playoffs.
From the playoff draw, the two teams met again and Benfica acted as the host. This time Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa was more careful against his rival. With the return of Kylian Mbappe who duet with Vinicius Junior, Madrid did play more solid and was no longer careless.
As a result, Los Merengues won a crucial victory through Vinicus Jr's single goal in the 50th minute. Previously, Madrid had difficulty breaking through Benfica's defense. Moreover, Trubin again showed his best performance by thwarting a number of opportunities from Vinicius Jr, Mbappe and Arda Guler.
But the Ukrainian goalkeeper was helpless when Vinicius Jr unleashed a long-range shot that went to the left corner. Trubin failed to anticipate it and this was the only goal created in the match.
However, Vinicius Jr then received a yellow card after celebrating a goal in front of Benfica supporters. This started when he protested to referee Francois Letexier for the attitude of Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni.
He called the word 'mono' which in Spanish means monkey. The player from Argentina's words were heard by Vinicius Jr so he then protested to the referee.
Due to the incident, Letexier stopped the match for 10 minutes in accordance with the anti-racism protocol in football. Only the referee then gave a yellow card to Vinicius Jr and Prestianni.
"Vini told us that he called him 'monkey'," said Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni as quoted by france24.
Meanwhile, Arbeloa praised his players for remaining calm and not being provoked. He also condemned the behavior of Benfica players who were racist.
"Vini remained calm and showed a commendable attitude," Arbeloa said.
"What happened is something that nobody likes. You can ask the Benfica player what he [Prestianni] said. Obviously racism is something that must be eliminated in the world of football. If the player does not fix it, it can get more difficult," he said.
Not only the unpraiseworthy behavior of his players, Benfica also got a lot of apes because Mourinho got two yellow cards and then a red card.
The former Madrid coach from 2010 to 2013 had to leave the team. He was also absent in the second match at Madrid's home. In that match, Benfica needed more than one goal to turn the tide.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
