At the end of added time, the Madrid players were underrepresented in defense on the free kick which brought the fourth goal, synonymous with qualification for the play-offs of the competition for Benfica on Wednesday and elimination from distance for Marseille.
Until the end of the suspense. Rarely has this expression been so appropriate, so accurate. Wednesday evening, during the final day of the first phase of the Football Champions League, we had to wait until the last second of the match between Benfica and Real Madrid, and the goal of Benfico goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin (4-2) in the 90th + 8, to know the verdicts for the final classification of the competition.
Without doubt one of the goals of the season. Less for its beauty than for its scope and its many consequences.
A goal which also caused a lot of ink to flow due to the blatant lack of Madrid players in defense during the free kick action. In the images, we can see eight Benfica players, including the Ukrainian goalkeeper who was urged to “go up” by his coach José Mourinho, near the area compared to only five from Madrid.
The wall is only made up of one member of the White House. Thibaut Courtois is in his goal.
A deficit in numbers which is easily explained. Real Madrid actually saw two of its players sent off and returned to the locker room in added time. In the 90th + 2 Raul Asencio, guilty of a second yellow card for a tackle at the feet of Leandro Barreiro, is the first to go out. He is quickly imitated by Rodrygo, in the 90th + 7, for protesting the referee.
Two Real players sent off in added time
Two players whose absence will have been detrimental to the organization of Madrid’s defense.
The attackers Vinicius and Kylian Mbappé preferred to stay at the halfway line, in the offensive phase, to try to score Real’s 3rd goal which would have allowed the Spaniards to snatch a draw and finish in the top 8 to qualify directly for the round of 16 of the competition, without going through the play-offs.
A choice which could have been legitimate knowing that Benfica’s goal was empty of its goalkeeper but which proved fatal for Madrid.
At the end of the meeting, Mbappé described this 4th goal as a “disgrace”, even if it “changes nothing” for the Madrid club, forced to go through the play-offs like last season.
“When I made the last change, I thought that a 3-2 victory allowed us to qualify,” José Mourinho told Canal + after the match. But a few seconds later, I was told that we needed one last goal… but I couldn’t make another change. There is a set piece, and our player who is two meters (Troubin is 1.99 m tall) went into the box and scored a historic goal for Benfica. It is a victory of great prestige. »
