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90 min: Carreras has a swipe for goal while running at full pelt down the inside left. Miles wide right. There will be nine additional minutes.
88 min: Benfica have run out of steam, and are quickly running out of road. They’ve been spirited tonight, but as bad as Real have been, the home side have had too much quality in the final analysis.
86 min: Benfica make one last desperate roll of the dice. Aursnes and Schjelderup make way for Barrenechea and Ivanović.
85 min: Otamendi goes over under a high ball in the Real box. Alexander-Arnold had a gentle hold of his shirt, but not enough for a penalty. Not that Otamendi agrees with that analysis, but he’ll have to live with it.
83 min: Nothing comes of the corner. Real then make another double change, replacing Guler and Gonzalo with Palacios and Pitarch.
82 min: Benfica nearly respond immediately, Schjelderup crossing low from the left, Rafa Silva back-flicking towards the bottom right. Just inches wide. In fact it took a little nick. It’ll be a corner.
GOAL! Real Madrid 2-1 Benfica (Vinicius Junior 80); agg 3-1
Real Madrid have done absolutely nothing in this second half … until now! Valverde plays a cute reverse pass down the inside-left channel from the centre circle. Vinicius Junior is free! He races into the box, runs around the ball to make the angle, and whistles a low forensic shot across Trubin and into the bottom right! Then off for a dance with the corner flag. He’s more than earned the right.
79 min: The game restarts, and it’s Benfica, the more desperate of the two teams, who are up to speed the quickest. Dedic probes down the right. No way through. The away fans still making the most noise.
77 min: Raúl Asencio is carried off by the paramedics. Applause ripples all around the Bernabéu. Here’s to his health and a speedy recovery. He’s one of two Real changes, Camavinga also leaving, presumably also as a precaution following that collision. Alaba and Mastantuono come on in their places.
76 min: Raúl Asencio is carefully loaded onto the stretcher. All of his team-mates gathered around with concerned looks.
75 min: They’re fitting a collar to Raúl Asencio. Hopefully just a precautionary measure, taking no chances. He’ll certainly not be taking any further part in this evening’s match.
73 min: Camavinga is fine, thankfully. Raúl Asencio, not so much. He stays down. Not sure whether he’s hurt his neck or chest, but he’s flat out on his back and there’s a stretcher coming on.
72 min: Raúl Asencio, Camavinga and Rafa Silva contest a high ball. Rafa Silva bails at the last second, leaving the Real pair to clatter into each other in mid-air. That will have hurt. On come the physios.
71 min: Valverde chases a long ball down the middle. Nearly clear, but not quite. He can’t get the ball under control, allowing Dedic to come across and put him off. Valverde’s eventual shot sails miles wide left.
70 min: Benfica waste the corner against ten-man Madrid, and then Rudiger comes back on.
69 min: Tchouaméni carelessly gives the ball away, 30 yards from his own goal. Pavlidis sends a low drive towards the bottom right. It deflects off Rudiger and wide right of goal, out for a corner. That hit the defender in the chest and winded him. He needs some treatment before the corner, therefore won’t be on the pitch when Real defend it.
67 min: On the touchline, the Real coach Alvaro Arbeloa shakes his head in the performative style. Nobody associated with Madrid happy with what they’re watching tonight. But they’re still on track for the last 16 as things stand.
66 min: Rudiger tries to release Guler down the right with a raking diagonal … but only finds the stand behind for a goal kick. Now it’s the Real fans whistling in irritation.
64 min: The Benfica fans are making the majority of the noise. Their team are giving as good as they’re getting. Real Madrid don’t look like a side capable of winning No16. But then we’ve said this sort of thing about Real at this stage of the competition before.
62 min: Barreiro clambers on the back of Tchouaméni and is fortunate not to go into the book.
60 min: … and now Vini Jr is robbed 30 yards from his own goal, and Rafa Silva has a crack from distance that takes a deflection off Valverde and skims the crossbar. Nothing comes of the corner. That’s Benfica’s tenth attempt on goal this evening; Real are on nine.
59 min: The Bernabéu is getting a little bit nervous. Benfica are holding their own. They’re still in this, and you can tell by the palpable tension.
57 min: Raúl Asencio slides forcefully through the back of Rafa Silva, who was going nowhere on the halfway line. A no-brainer booking, in more than one sense. Some may argue it was so needlessly aggressive it could have been a red. What was the point?
56 min: Benfica try to play out from the back. Too intricate. They nearly pay the price. Alexander-Arnold, increasingly influential, takes up possession to the right of the D, chops this way then that, and fires a low drive across Trubin and inches wide of the bottom left.
55 min: Schjelderup jinks his way down the left and slips a pass down the channel for Rafa Silva, who prepares to take a shot only for Alexander-Arnold to slide in and take it off his toe. The resulting corner is claimed by Courtois and the danger is over. Real still look way too easy to play through. A more accomplished team than Benfica would have scored more than one goal.
53 min: The resulting free kick is parlayed into a corner, taken from the right by Alexander-Arnold. It’s another fine delivery, and Raúl Asencio heads over from ten yards. He wasn’t under too much pressure, and perhaps should have done better.
51 min: Otamendi is booked for an old-school bodycheck on Vinicius Junior, a challenge he followed by springing up immediately and flipping Tchouaméni into the air. Another referee may have showed him two separate yellow cards for that rush of blood. He couldn’t have legitimately complained.
50 min: Pavlidis romps into space down the left … but isn’t on the same wavelength as Rafa Silva, so there's no passing option open, and Alexander-Arnold’s presence eventually panics him into the loss of ball.
48 min: Alexander-Arnold put that on a plate for Valverde. How Liverpool have missed his cool creativity under pressure this season.
47 min: Alexander-Arnold finds himself in acres of space on the right-hand side of the Benfica box. Found well by Guler. He rolls an almost perfect cross into the middle … where Valverde takes a fresh-air swipe from six yards. Big chance.
Benfica, trailing 2-1 on aggregate, get the ball rolling for the second half. No changes made by either side.
There are two other Champions League ties going on right now. Here are the half-times …
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Juventus 1-0 Galatasaray (agg 3-5)
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Paris Saint-Germain 0-1 Monaco (agg 3-3)
… and the holders are in a wee spot of bother. Just before the break at the Parc des Princes, Maghnes Akliouche swept a shot into the bottom-left corner to level the all-French tie on aggregate. Meanwhile in Turin, Manuel Locatelli has given Juventus a modicum of hope from the penalty spot, the kick awarded on 37 minutes when Lucas Torreira took out Khephren Thuram. Meanwhile, as early arrivals to this MBM will already know, Atalanta have seen off Borussia Dortmund in dramatic style, winning 4-1 in Bergamo to record a 4-3 aggregate comeback victory.
Half-time reading.
HALF TIME: Real Madrid 1-1 Benfica (agg 2-1)
Nothing comes of Alexander-Arnold’s free kick, and the half-time whistle goes. The scoreline seems about right on balance, though the way Benfica flew out of the blocks, they may be a tad disappointed not to have built on their early goal. As things stand, Real will be playing either Manchester City or Sporting of Lisbon in the last 16, but you’d be a brave punter to predict the eventual outcome of this tie with 100 percent confidence.
45 min +2: Before the free kick can be taken, Rios shoves over Raúl Asencio. He wants to watch himself, having already been booked.
45 min +1: Vinicius Jr takes a couple of fingers in the face from Dedic as he races down the left. Free kick. One last first-half chance for Real to take the lead on the evening and extend their advantage in the tie.
45 min: Vini Jr dribbles elegantly down the left and gets past Dedic. He cuts back for Valverde, who takes another whack. This one’s got more oomph behind it, but it’s deflected wide right, and nothing comes of the corner. There will be one additional first-half minute.
44 min: Valverde has a whack from distance, but he half-slips when connecting and all the sting is drawn.
42 min: Guler makes himself a little bit of space to the right of the Benfica D and shoots. The effort’s deflected wide left. Alexander-Arnold comes across to take. A short one, some training-ground triangles, and Guler fires low into the mixer. Benfica manage to hack clear. Real miss the sheer presence of Mbappe, who would surely have been sniffing around to take advantage of that.
40 min: Barreiro steals the ball off Tchouaméni in the centre circle, and suddenly Benfica are three on two! But the whistle goes for a very generous foul. Otamendi uses his captain’s privileges to discuss the matter with the referee, but the whistle’s gone, and that’s that.
39 min: Benfica certainly haven’t given up hope, though. Rios drives through a crowded box towards the bottom left, and Courtois does very well to get down and parry. Then soon after, the ever-dangerous Dedic jigs in from the right and makes space on the edge of the D to shoot … before slipping over. Real not secure at the back at all.
37 min: Dedic stands in yards of space on the right, waiting for a simple Araujo pass. It never comes. Araujo sticks up a hand in apology. A big chance to launch a dangerous attack goes by.
35 min: Rios is booked for catching Tchouaméni’s foot with a late lunge. More mistimed than anything of ill will.
NO GOAL. Real Madrid 1-1 Benfica (agg 2-1)
Yep, Gonzalo was offside when Valverde headed down. The blushes of Trubin and Otamendi, who both hesitated to let Guler steal in, are spared.
33 min: VAR is going to take a check. It’s tight.
GOAL! Real Madrid 2-1 Benfica (Guler 32); agg 3-1
Vinicius Jr dinks a cross in from the left. Valverde heads it back into the centre. Gonzalo can’t connect properly as he sweeps a leg towards the ball. Trubin hesitates, and Guler is on hand to sweep home for close range! But was Gonzalo offside?
30 min: Dedic has had the run of Benfica’s right flank, and now he wins a corner off Carreras. Schjelderup comes across to take. Tchouaméni eyebrows clear, and just as well, because Rios was steaming in behind him, neck wound back, preparing to head home from six yards.
28 min: Real with more of the sterile domination. Benfica will be pleased the hosts are resorting to this.
26 min: Real Madrid calm things down with some sterile midfield possession. Probably a wise move. Meanwhile here’s Justin Kavanagh: “So much space out there? Basketball game rhythms? Two goals in as many minutes? Hold on, aren’t one of these teams managed by that José Mourinho bloke? What’s going on here, Scott?” Time takes its toll on every man.
24 min: Real may possibly decide that the best form of defence is attack, and with this in mind, Camavinga creams a rising shot goalwards from distance. Easy enough for Trubin. Then another phase, as Vinicius sashays in from the left before driving harder down the middle. He fizzes a low shot towards the bottom right but that’s easy for the keeper. If this ends 1-1 on the night, things will have taken several strange turns.
22 min: Schjelderup races into a daft amount of space down the left. A low cross. Pavlidis tries to back-heel home at the near post. Had he missed the ball, Rafa Silva was tapping home again. But it’s deflected away from danger. Benfica keep on the front foot and Barreiro wins a corner on the right, but nothing comes of that. Real are a shambles at the back.
21 min: That equaliser has settled Real Madrid a little bit. They had been extremely skittish before Tchouaméni slotted so calmly. Now they’re seeing much more of the ball.
19 min: … and to illustrate that, Alexander-Arnold advances down the right and cuts back into a huge pocket of space. However one of the reason there’s so much space is because there’s no Real Madrid player in the box. What a start to this game, though!
18 min: Dedic romps down the right and looks for Rafa Silva in the middle. Camavinga is on hand to put a stop to the basketball rhythms of this game. For now. No way is this ending 1-1. There’s so much space out there.
GOAL! Real Madrid 1-1 Benfica (Tchouameni 16); agg 2-1
Real were all over the shop defensively there. But what a response this is! Valverde makes good ground down the right and cuts back for Tchouameni, who from the edge of the box steers a power-curler into the bottom right!
GOAL! Real Madrid 0-1 Benfica (Rafa Silva 14); agg 1-1
A simple ball round the corner down the right by Rios, and Pavlidis is released into acres. He crosses low. Raúl Asencio slides in to intercept, with Rafa Silva alone behind him. He diverts the ball towards his own goal. Courtois spares his blushes with a fine reaction save, but the ball rebounds to Rafa Silva, who knees home from a couple of yards.
