Real Madrid, defending champions Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United slipped out of the top eight places on the last matchday of the Champions League main round and have to play in the intermediate round for a place in the round of 16.
Real Madrid suffered a deserved 2:4 (1:2) defeat at Benfica Lisbon – the fourth goal for the Portuguese was scored by goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin in stoppage time and thus secured Benfica’s place in the playoffs. Kylian Mbappé scored twice for Madrid and set a new record for the Champions League group stage with 13 goals, but that was nothing more than a side note: Real, third before the game, finished the main round in ninth place – and could face Benfica again in the playoffs. The draw is on Friday in Nyon.
In the heated final phase, Real lost two players with yellow-red cards, Raul Asencio and Rodrygo, but goalkeeper Trubin took the main role. Benfica was only one goal away from pushing Olympique Marseille (lost 3-0 in Bruges) from 24th place in the table, which is the last to qualify for participation in the playoffs. The players on the pitch only seemed to realize this at the very last second. Trubin played for time in the sixth minute of stoppage time, only then did coach José Mourinho send all his players forward.
Then things got hectic again, the Portuguese were awarded a free kick in the opponent’s half – and Trubin scored with a header in the eighth minute of added time. Mourinho celebrated arm in arm with a ball boy on the sideline. He had only taken over Benfica during the season and after four matchdays he was still in last place in the Champions League table with zero points.
For PSG and Newcastle, the 1:1 (1:1) in the direct duel was not enough for direct qualification for the round of 16. World footballer Ousmane Dembélé failed to score a penalty for Paris early in the game, shortly afterwards Vitinha scored to give the hosts the lead. Joe Willock equalized for Newcastle, where national players Nick Woltemade and Malick Thiaw started.
