The second leg of the round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League once again presented great dramaturgy, intense competition, and excitement awaited the fans. This evening too, major clubs demonstrated their potential: Real Madrid once again defeated Benfica at home, while PSG fought a hard-fought draw with Monaco, advancing to the next stage thanks to their first-leg advantage.
The match in Madrid started quite intensely and sharply. Despite Benfica opening the scoring, Real Madrid quickly returned to play and gradually took the initiative. In the end, the "royal club" won with a score of 2:1. In the match, Orelen Chuameni and Vinicius Junior scored, and Vinicius again became the player who brought the desired result to his team at the decisive moment. Following the two matches, Real Madrid secured a place in the next round with a 3-1 aggregate score.
In this match, Real Madrid once again showed one of its most important qualities: maintaining composure even under pressure and striking in decisive moments. Benfica didn't give up easily, but the Madrid team's experience and individual skill in some episodes revealed the difference. One of the most pleasant aspects for the fans was that the team showed character again during a difficult period.
UCL. Round of 16
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Real - Benfica 2:1
Goals: Tchouameni (16), Vinicius (80) - Silva (14).
Real Madrid: Courtois, Trent, Rüdiger, Asensio (Alaba, 77'), Carreras (Fran Garcia, 90+1'), Valverde, Chuameni, Camavinga (Mastantuono, 77'), Guler (Perez, 84'), Vinicius, Gonzalo Garcia (Pitarch, 84').
Benfica: Trubin, Dedić, Araujo, Otamendi, Dal, Rios, Barreiro (Cabral, 90+1), Eursnes (Barrenechea, 85), Silva, Schelderup (Ivanovic, 85), Pavlidis.
Yellow cards: Rios (35), Otamendi (51), Asensio (57).
First match - 1:0.
The match in Paris became even more dramatic. The reigning champions, PSG, played against Monaco and drew 2-2. Marquinhos and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored for the Parisians. Monaco tried to maintain the intrigue until the final minutes, but a 3-2 victory in the first leg allowed PSG to advance to the next stage with a 5-4 aggregate score.
In this confrontation, the second half was especially decisive for PSG. The opponent posed a threat in counter-attacks even after the red card, so the Parisians had to play cautiously and carefully until the final whistle. Nevertheless, the team fulfilled the main task - maintained the result and took another step forward.
UCL. Round of 16
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PSG - Monaco 2:2
Goals: Marquinhos (60), Kvaratskhelia (66) - Akliush (45), Tese (90+1).
PSG: Safonov, Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacio, Mendes (Hernandez, 80'), Zaire-Emery (Fernandez, 87'), Vitinha, Nevesh, Kvaratskhelia, Barcola (Lee Kang, 69'), Doué (Ramouche, 88').
Monaco: Kyung, Kehrer, Zakariyo (Mavissa, 74'), Fas, Vanderson (Nibombe, 90+4'), Kamara, Bamba (These, 62'), Henrique, Aqliouche (Adingra, 74'), Koulibaly, Balogun (Bierith, 74').
Yellow cards: Zakariyo (24), Vanderson (48), Koulibaly (55), Nibombe (90+4).
Red card: Koulibaly (58).
First match - 3:2.
Thus, on the evening of February 25th, two major leagues in the Champions League - Real Madrid and PSG - achieved their goal. One advanced to the next stage with a victory, and the other with a decisive draw. This means that even bigger clashes, even greater pressure, and even more exciting evenings await us in the next stages of the competition.
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