Vinícius Júnior Clinches Real Madrid's Champions League Knockout Spot as PSG Narrowly Beats Monaco
On Wednesday, Vinícius Júnior secured Real Madrid's advancement to the Champions League round of 16 with a decisive strike against Benfica, while title holders Paris Saint-Germain managed a tight win over their 10-man Ligue 1 competitors Monaco.
Juventus, the Italian powerhouse, came close to an astonishing turnaround from their 5-2 initial leg shortfall versus Galatasaray, yet extra-time strikes by Victor Osimhen and Barış Yılmaz delivered a 7-5 total triumph for the Turkish team, as Lazar Samardžić's late penalty propelled Atalanta to a 4-3 aggregate win against Borussia Dortmund.
Vinícius netted the match-winning goal in a 2-1 result that evening, ensuring Real's 3-1 overall edge in the playoff clash at Madrid.
Just a week after the racism controversy from the opening leg in Lisbon, Vinícius delivered an ideal response, with the Argentine midfielder Gianluca Prestianni, whom he had accused of racial abuse, sidelined due to a temporary UEFA suspension.
Benfica's manager José Mourinho faced a ban for the encounter against his previous club, though his squad momentarily sparked thoughts of an upset.
Rafa Silva opened the scoring for Benfica in the 14th minute by slotting away the rebound following Raúl Asencio's deflection of Vangelis Pavlidis's delivery towards his own goal, which prompted an instinctive save from Thibaut Courtois.
However, two minutes afterwards, Aurélien Tchouaméni restored parity with a sharp shot from Federico Valverde's pull-back.
Lacking his forward teammate Kylian Mbappé due to injury, Vinícius took centre stage, surging forward 11 minutes before the end to shoot across keeper Anatoliy Trubin and into the opposite corner.
PSG surmounted an early half-time threat to triumph 5-4 on aggregate following a 2-2 stalemate at the Parc des Princes.
With Moroccan defender Achraf Hakimi selected to play despite an ongoing trial for alleged rape, PSG started slowly.
Monaco equalised the overall score shortly before the break when Maghnes Akliouche neatly converted from Mamadou Coulibaly's astute pass, after PSG's Matvei Safonov mishandled a delivery.
Yet Coulibaly received two quick bookings in the second half's opening stages, and soon after, Désiré Doué set up Marquinhos for a close-range tap-in.
Six minutes on, Hakimi unleashed a long-range effort, which Monaco's Philipp Köhn pushed away, allowing Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to bundle in the follow-up and largely end the visitors' chances, prior to Jordan Teze's stoppage-time effort.
Osimhen Shatters Juventus' Hopes
Juventus, reduced to 10 players, fell short of a remarkable recovery despite a 3-2 extra-time victory over Galatasaray in Turin.
Strikes by skipper Manuel Locatelli, defender Federico Gatti, and American midfielder Weston McKennie enabled Juve to extend the contest beyond regular time, even after Lloyd Kelly's second-half red card when trailing 1-0.
However, goals from Osimhen and Yılmaz during the additional period advanced the Turkish outfit.
Juve gained a boost eight minutes before the interval as ex-Arsenal player Lucas Torreira fouled Khephren Thuram inside the area, and Locatelli converted the resulting penalty.
Juve controlled the opening half, but their progression dreams suffered a major setback when English defender Kelly received a severe sending-off early after the restart for catching Yılmaz with his studs during a aerial challenge.
Nevertheless, Gatti nodded in Pierre Kalulu's dangerous delivery from the right, and McKennie equalised the tie eight minutes from the end with a header at the far post from point-blank range, pushing the match to extra time.
Serbian midfielder Samardžić's stoppage-time spot-kick secured a 4-1 home win for Atalanta over Dortmund.
Algerian defender Ramy Bensebaini conceded the penalty late in added time by striking Nikola Krstić in the face with a raised foot.
This led to his second booking on a disastrous night where he also accidentally assisted Atalanta's opening pair of goals.
The Italian side erased their 2-0 first-leg deficit by the break courtesy of efforts from forward Gianluca Scamacca and experienced full-back Davide Zappacosta, both deflected off Bensebaini.
Croatian midfielder Mario Pašalić nodded in from close range within the six-yard area to hand the hosts the lead on aggregate, though Karim Adeyemi's stunning solo strike seemed destined to force overtime.