Real Madrid came from behind to defeat Benfica 2-1 at the Bernabéu in the UEFA Champions League, with Vinícius Júnior the hero once again for the Spanish giants.
Part III of the Real Madrid vs Benfica trilogy was won by the La Liga club, ending a record-breaking run of this fixture being played three times in succession within the UEFA Champions League.
After the appalling allegations of racist abuse suffered by Vinícius Júnior in the first leg of this tie, it was fitting that the Brazilian proved to be the match-winner in both games – the first time that he’s scored in both legs of a two-legged UEFA Champions League knockout tie.
José Mourinho – condemned to a place in the stands following his first-leg red card – extended his record-breaking run with a 10th successive winless game within the UCL knockout stages, as he witnessed Benfica perform admirably, but ultimately fall short of a comeback following last week’s 1-0 defeat in Lisbon.
Madrid came into the game without this season’s top scorer Kylian Mbappé through injury, with Gonzalo García the man chosen to replace him. But it was Benfica who opened the scoring, stunning the Bernabéu into silence in the 14th minute when they levelled the tie thanks to a close-range finish via Rafa Silva.An incisive passing move saw Vangelis Pavlidis break clear on the right wing before the Greek forward fired in a low cross that was diverted towards goal by Raúl Asencio, only for Thibaut Courtois to make a sensational save with his feet. But it fell to Rafa, who converted at the second time of asking to open the scoring on the night.
That goal saw Rafa become only the second player to reach 10 Champions League goals for Benfica, after Óscar Cardozo (11).
That lead was to last only two minutes and 44 seconds however, as Madrid retook the lead in the tie once again.
Federico Valverde found a great position out wide on the right before cutting the ball back to the edge of the box, where Aurélien Tchouaméni was waiting before side-footing the ball powerfully into the bottom corner of the Benfica net. That goal was Tchouaméni’s first in the UCL in what was his 39th appearance and 32nd shot in the competition.
Arda Güler, making his 100th Real Madrid appearance on his 21st birthday, thought he’d given Madrid the lead on the night, but his first-half goal was disallowed for offside.
On the hour mark, Rafa thought that he’d grabbed his second goal of the game, but his outside-of-the-foot curler was brilliantly tipped onto the bar by Courtois to keep the score at 1-1.
With 10 minutes remaining, Vinícius Júnior raced clear to slot the ball low across Anatoliy Trubin and win the game, and the tie for the Spanish giants. It was his 14th knockout stage goal in the UCL, becoming the highest-scoring Brazilian player in such matches, surpassing Neymar (13).
Real Madrid have now set up a last 16 tie with either Benfica’s city rivals Sporting CP or Manchester City, who they lost 2-1 at home to in the league phase. Only last season did Madrid knock City out of the Champions League in the knockout play-offs (6-3 on aggregate), so they may need to be wary of revenge.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Real Madrid vs Benfica stats from their UEFA Champions League meeting at Estadio Bernabéu on Wednesday 25 February 2026.
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.
Real Madrid 2-1 Benfica Post-Match Facts
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Real Madrid 2-1 Benfica Stats (3-1 on agg): Madrid March On Thanks to Match-Winner Vinícius Júnior Opta Analyst.
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