Ugly scenes marred a fine away win for Real Madrid. Look back with our recap and Opta data in our Benfica vs Real Madrid stats page.
Vinícius Júnior’s stunning strike earned Real Madrid a 1-0 win away to Benfica in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League play-off, but the match was marred by an altercation immediately following the decisive goal.
Brazil international Vinícius curled a glorious effort into the top-right corner in the 50th minute, before Benfica players and supporters appeared to take issue with his celebration.
Vinícius exchanged words with several opponents but a conversation with Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni – who pulled his jersey over his mouth during the apparent discussion – led to the Madrid forward making a complaint to referee François Letexier.
Letexier made a crossed-arms gesture, as per UEFA protocols, to signify an allegation of racist abuse had been made.
After a 10-minute delay, the match did eventually resume, but the remainder of the contest was played in an ugly atmosphere, with numerous objects pelted on to the pitch from the stands at various points.
The fallout of this match will likely go far beyond the result, though Madrid will at least be pleased to escape Lisbon this time with a win, taking them a step closer to the last 16.
In truth, Madrid were comfortably the better team. Álvaro Arbeloa’s men created several good opportunities in the first half, and Kylian Mbappé was a matter of centimetres away from connecting with a Trent Alexander-Arnold cross – had he, it would have almost certainly yielded a goal.
They were grateful to Thibaut Courtois in the 24th minute, however, as the Belgian produced an astonishing save down to his left to keep out Fredrik Aursnes’ deflected strike out of the bottom corner.
The breakthrough arrived in Madrid’s favour four minutes after the restart, as Vinícius cut in from the left and fired a glorious effort into the top-far corner.
But that also proved to be the moment the match took a turn.
After the delay that followed Vinícius’ complaint to the referee, there were few real highlights of note beyond the Brazilian almost getting a second.
There was also a flashpoint that saw Benfica head coach José Mourinho sent off for dissent.
But otherwise, however, it was a match marred by an ugly atmosphere on the pitch and in the stands – a far cry from these two sides’ meeting at the end of the league phase.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Benfica vs Real Madrid stats from their Champions League meeting at Estádio da Luz on Tuesday.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Benfica vs Real Madrid Post-Match Facts
Facts to follow…
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Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid Stats: Vinícius Stunner Decisive But Clash Marred by Allegation of Racist Abuse Opta Analyst.
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