Real Madrid 2-1 Benfica (3-1 Agg), UEFA Champions League: Vinicius Strikes Again As Los Blancos Advance

Real Madrid booked their place in the Champions League last 16 as Vinicius Junior was on target during Los Blancos' 2-1 win over Benfica in the second leg of their play-off tie. 

Vinicius' goal from the first leg had already put Madrid ahead in the tie, and the Brazilian netted again in the 80th minute to clinch a 3-1 aggregate win for Alvaro Arbeloa's side. 

However, the Estadio Bernabeu was stunned into silence in the 14th minute when Vangelis Pavlidis' cross was slid towards his own goal by Raul Asencio, and though Thibaut Courtois stopped an own goal, Rafa was on hand to tuck home the rebound. 

But Benfica's joy was short-lived as Madrid hit back two minutes later through Aurelien Tchouameni, who curled Federico Valverde's inviting cutback into the bottom-right corner. 

Arda Guler thought he had turned the match on its head in the 32nd minute when he finished past Anatoliy Trubin, but the goal was ruled out for an offside against Gonzalo Garcia, whose initial effort was kept out by the visiting goalkeeper.

Benfica forward Richard Rios then forced Courtois into a smart stop at his near post ahead of the break before Rafa clipped the crossbar just after the hour, but Madrid's progression was secured late on with the first shot on target in the second half. 

After being sent through by Valverde, Vinicius raced towards goal and coolly slotted a side-footed strike past Trubin, with Madrid holding on for the nine additional minutes which were added on following a serious-looking injury to Asencio. 

Data Debrief: Vinicius takes centre stage in another European triumph

In what proved to be a difficult week both on and off the pitch for Madrid and Vinicius, they delivered another special performance in the Champions League here. 

Madrid have now reached the Champions League last 16 in all 23 seasons since that round began in 2003-04 and are the only side to achieve this, but they were spearheaded by their influential number seven. 

Indeed, Vinicius has now scored in his last five appearances for Madrid in all competitions (six goals), equalling his best scoring run for the club (also five games between August and September 2022, five goals). He also scored in both legs of a two-legged Champions League knockout tie for the very first time for Madrid. 

But without the injured Kylian Mbappe in their ranks, Madrid were made to work for their win, having registered an expected goals (xG) total of just 1.11 from their 14 shots to Benfica's 1.98 from their 12 attempts.