Article by Adrian Duţă, Alexandru Tomuțiu – Published Wednesday, February 25, 2026, 8:44 p.m. / Updated Wednesday, February 25, 2026, 8:46 p.m.
Real Madrid – Benfica, the second leg of the play-off for the Champions League round of 16, takes place tonight, from 22:00. The match will be liveTEXT on GSP.ro and transmitted on Prima Sport 1 and Digi Sport 1.
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In the round, Real Madrid won 1-0 in Lisbon.
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Whoever advances will play Manchester City or Sporting in the quarter-finals. He will find out his opponent by drawing lots on Friday.
After the huge scandal in the tour, the two teams meet again. In Lisbon, Vinicius scored the only goal of the match. Immediately after he scored, a conflict started with Prestianni, the Portuguese player. The Brazilian accused the Argentine of racism. The Benfica winger has been suspended by UEFA and will not play in Madrid.
Real Madrid – Benfica, live from 22:00
Real Madrid – Benfica, teams:
Real Madrid's starting team: Courtois – Alexander-Arnold, Asencio, Rudiger, Carreras – Valverde, Guler, Tchouameni, Camavinga – Gonzalo, Vinicius.
reserves: Lunin, Fran Gonzalez, Carvajal, Alaba, Fran Garcia, Brahim, F. Mendy, Mastantuono, Cestero, Manuel Angel, Palacios, Thiago
Coach: Alvaro Arbeloa
Benfica's probable team: Trubin – Dedic, Araujo, Otamendi, Dahl – Barrenechea, Barreiro – Aursnes, Rafa, Schjelderup – Pavlidis
Coach: Jose Mourinho
Stadium: Bernabeu
Referee: Slavko Vincic
Kylian Mbappe, out for the return with Benfica
What was expected has become official: Mbappe is unavailable. He will not play in the match against Benfica due to a problem with his left knee.
The hope the club had been holding on to was extinguished. The striker needs rest because of a joint that has been causing him problems for almost three months, since December 7, to be exact, since the game against Celta.
His absence will not be limited to the return with the “Eagles”, but will also continue on Monday, in the match against Getafe. His return is scheduled for the match against Celta Vigo, writes as.com.
The team called by Real Madrid for the match with Benfica:
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Goalkeepers: Courtois, Lunin and Fran González.
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Defenders: Carvajal, Alaba, Trent, Asencio, Carreras, Fran García, Rüdiger and Mendy.
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Midfielders: Camavinga, Valverde, Tchouaméni, Güler, Cestero, Manuel Ángel, Palacios and Thiago.
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Strikers: Vinícius, Gonzalo, Brahim and Mastantuono.
