Benfica Lisbon is in dire danger of being eliminated from the Champions League. But José Mourinho’s team doesn’t seem to know what situation they’re in. Then the players get a sign. Crazy things happen.
Benfica seemed to have been unaware of their situation. José Mourinho’s club was on the verge of elimination from the Champions League. They were one goal short of overtaking Olympique Marseille and jumping into the play-offs in 24th place. In the interim ranking, the Portuguese were tied on points and had the same goal difference, but they had scored fewer goals and were therefore very close to being eliminated.
With the score at 3-2 against Real Madrid, Benfica still took an annoying amount of time and didn’t seem to be pushing for the goal they so urgently needed. Until the players suddenly received a signal. The official stoppage time of five minutes had already expired when Benfica stormed forward again and won a free kick in the half field. Everyone suddenly moved into the opposing box, including keeper Anatoliy Trubin.
Curtain up for the crazy end of a crazy XXL Champions League conference. All other games had ended when the free kick landed precisely on Trubin’s head. The keeper rose up and headed the ball into the goal. A crucial goal, 30 seconds after Benfica had even known they needed it. It was the last action of the game. The Estadio da Luz shook. Benfica made it into the play-offs, Marseille suffered a bitter exit from the distance. The French, for their part, lost 3-0 in Bruges and that’s why they got themselves into the awkward position in the first place.
Real Madrid missed out on direct entry into the round of 16 due to their defeat in Lisbon and only finished ninth. What was crucial was that Benfica’s arch-rivals Sporting scored 3-2 at Athletic Bilbao in stoppage time and thus overtook the star ensemble around Kylian Mbappé. Attacker Rodrygo and Raul Ascensio each received a yellow-red card in stoppage time.
Bodö/Glimt creates the sensation
The XXL conference with 18 games at the same time also had a lot of drama to offer. A total of 61 goals were scored, and the situation in the fight for progress changed almost every minute.
Bodö/Glimt also achieved something incredible. The Champions League debutant was in 32nd place in the Champions League table with just three points after six match days and was miles away from advancing. The other opponents: Manchester City and Atlético Madrid. Actually a hopeless situation. Actually.
The Norwegian outsiders, who play their home games north of the Arctic Circle, won both games. The sensation against Pep Guardiola and Co. was followed by a 2-1 away win against Diego Simeone’s team.
Worth mentioning from a German perspective: Kai Havertz was in the starting line-up for the first time in a competitive game at Arsenal in 357 days. In the 3-2 win against Qairat Almaty, the German international showed an outstanding performance, scoring one goal and setting up another. Arsenal finished the group stage top of the table with eight wins from eight games. Havertz was out for a long time with a thigh injury and then a knee injury. Most recently he celebrated his comeback with two short appearances in the FA Cup against Portsmouth and in the League Cup against Chelsea.
Florian Wirtz scored the goal to make it 2-0 in Liverpool FC’s 6-0 win against Qarabag Agdam. Nick Woltemade was less successful with Newcastle United at PSG. The German striker was in the starting line-up, but failed to score in the 1-1 draw in the tenth competitive game in a row.
These teams are directly in the round of 16
- FC Arsenal
- FC Bayern
- Liverpool FC
- Tottenham
- FC Barcelona
- Chelsea FC
- Sporting Lisbon
- Manchester City
These teams have to go to the play-offs
- Real Madrid
- Inter Milan
- PSG
- Newcastle United
- Juventus Turin
- Atlético Madrid
- Atalanta Bergamo
- Bayer Leverkusen
- BVB
- Olympiacos Piraeus
- Club Brugge
- Galatasaray Istanbul
- AS Monaco
- Garabagh Agdam
- FK Bodö/Glimt
- Beneficial Lissabon
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