It wasn't Real Madrid's best night, not by a long shot. On the contrary, in their visit to Lisbon, Benfica, managed by their former coach Jose Mourinho, overwhelmed them 4-2 to knock them out of the Benfica secured eight UEFA Champions League spots with a heroic goal from their goalkeeper Trubin. Real Madrid arrived hoping to show improvement under the guidance of Spaniard Alvaro Arbeloa, but there was a big gap between words and actions, and the Merengues were victims of their own ineffectiveness and far from their best. The victory for the Portuguese side allowed them to move into the top 24 of the 36 teams participating in this 2026 edition of the UEFA Champions League, while Real Madrid were relegated to ninth place, one point behind Manchester City, who occupy eighth position with 16 points. Much of Benfica's victory was due to the brace scored by Norwegian Andreas Schjelderup, who found the net in the 36th and 54th minutes, while the other two goals came from Greek Vangelis Pavlidis via a penalty and the incredible goal from the goalkeeper. Ukrainian Anatoli Trubin scored in the 8th minute of extra time.

Real Madrid tried to respond with two goals from Frenchman Kylian Mbappe in the 30th and 58th minutes, but ultimately their disjointed attacks and lack of support prevented them from reacting and getting a better result.

The Actions

Benfica was the first to attack, and from the 6th minute, after a combination between Argentinian Nicolas Otamendi and Portuguese Tomas Araujo, they came close to breaching the goal of Belgian Thibaut Courtois.

Seven minutes later, Pavlidis got behind the defenders on a cross from Sudakov, but he couldn't control it well and the opportunity was lost as Courtois came out to challenge him. Then came the play where the young Argentinian Gianluca Prestianni was brought down in the area by Bellingham, but the penalty was not taken after a VAR review. VAR that ignites Mourinho's anger.

Prestianni was motivated and became a real headache for Real Madrid,as demonstrated by a shot that goalkeeper Courtois miraculously saved, deflecting the ball with just his fingertips.

But then Kylian Mbappe, in the 29th minute, after a cross from Asensio, made it 1-0 with his 12th goal of the season, surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo's 11 from the 2015-2016 season as the top scorer in the Champions League group stage.

The joy was short-lived because Norwegian Andreas Schjelderup equalized in the 36th minute with the first of his two goals of the night.

Then came the 2-1 penalty, awarded after Tchouameni fouled Otamendi on a corner taken by Pavlidis, sending the teams into halftime with a 2-1 lead. In the second half, Benfica increased their lead to 3-1 with a second goal from Norwegian Schjelderup in the 54th minute, causing panic in Madrid, who made desperate changes, bringing on Rodrygo and Camavinga for Mastantuono and Tchouameni. The change paid off when Mbappe pulled one back to 3-2 in the 57th minute, tightening the scoreline. However, in the end, goalkeeper Trubin headed in the final goal, making it 4-2, in the 98th minute from a corner, securing a valuable victory against a highly regarded opponent who is not currently at their best.