Real Madrid overcame an early setback to defeat Benfica 2–1 on Wednesday, sealing a 3–1 aggregate win to advance to the Champions League round of 16 after an enthralling contest at the Bernabeu.
Goals from Aurelien Tchouameni and Vinicius Jr. on either side of halftime overturned Rafa Silva’s early strike, sending the 15-time European champions into the next round, where either Manchester City or Sporting CP await in Friday’s draw.
Trailing 1–0 from the first leg in Portugal — a match overshadowed by Vinicius accusing Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni of racially abusing him — Benfica began confidently and exposed a makeshift Madrid defence missing Eder Militao and Dean Huijsen. Forward Kylian Mbappe was also sidelined with a knee injury expected to keep him out for several matches.
Benfica coach Jose Mourinho was absent from the dugout after being sent off in the first leg for protesting, while Prestianni did not feature following a provisional UEFA suspension linked to the alleged incident in Lisbon.