Benfica 4-2 Real Madrid (Mbappé x2). Defeat in Europe… This is the immediate reaction to the terrible performance. Coming up: Player ratings, interviews and a podcast.
Jose Mourinho would be facing his
former side, and his former player as Álvaro Arbeloa and his men visited the Portuguese capital. The team was as expected, with Raúl Asencio and Dean Huijsen starting in the middle of defence. Fede Valverde captained Real Madrid.
The first half was a blood bath, and Real Madrid were the victims of the massacre. Total domination, from start to finish. Benfica hit the bar, they hit the post, they hit the goalkeeper – they hit pretty much everything but the net in the opening half an hour. They would have been regretting these missed chances when Kylian Mbappé decided to cash in his goal per game token. The home side wouldn’t back down from here though, going straight back on the attack and managing to find an equaliser through Andreas Schelderup. They then continued to hunt Madrid down and chase a second goal – and disaster struck right at the end of the half. Benfica won a penalty, and converted to make it 2-1 at the break, and Real Madrid had been on the receiving end of a physical and technical battering.
Real Madrid began life in the second half with a missed Vinícius Júnior header. The Benfica chances then stated to flow again, with Thibaut Courtois making a low save to deny a third. They found that third, when Andres Schelderup found the bottom corner after Los Blancos were killed in transition yet again. Kylian Mbappé wouldn’t let this stand, and pulled on back to try and scramble his sides way back into the game. Jude Bellingham saw an effort fly over, before Benfica again looked dangerous at the other end. Even toward the end of the game, it was still the home side creating the better chances. Raúl Asencio triggered an absolute implosion, after being shown a red card (second yellow) for a silly challenge. Worse, Rodrygo Goes then was sent for a slightly early shower, after being shown a red himself, seemingly for dissent. Even worse, the goalkeeper scored to send Benfica through to the next stages of the competition, and hand Real Madrid the biggest embarrassment in recent memor… Somehow, even worse, Real Madrid somehow went from third to ninth – meaning they will have to fulfil additional fixtures. Disaster, but deserved. 4-2 to Benfica. What do you think about Álvaro Arbeloa’s time at the helm so far?
