Vinicius helps Real Madrid advance into round of 16 of Champions League

With the winning goal and another corner-flag dance, Vinicius Junior fittingly had the final say in an emotionally charged rematch with Benfica to guide Real Madrid into the round of 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday.

Defending champion Paris Saint-Germain also advanced out of the playoffs — but only after narrowly getting past Monaco — while Atalanta pulled off a remarkable comeback against Borussia Dortmund with a dramatic last-second goal to maintain Italian involvement in the competition. Juventus fell short of completing its own stunning second-leg recovery, though, eliminated by Galatasaray after extra time.

Vinicius jeered by Benfica fans: Playing a week after being the target of alleged racial abuse in the first leg against Benfica, Vinicius wrapped up Madrid’s 2-1 win over the Portuguese team — and a 3-1 victory on aggregate — with his team’s second goal in the 80th minute at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

The Brazil star slotted a low finish into the corner and celebrated his goal like he did last week by dancing beside the corner flag. Vinicius was loudly booed by Benfica fans nearly every time he touched the ball, a hangover from the first leg when he accused Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni of calling him a “monkey”.

Prestianni has denied racially insulting Vinicius while confronting him with his jersey over his mouth, but did not play Wednesday’s game after being provisionally banned for one match by UEFA. Benfica coach Jose Mourinho, who previously led Madrid, was also suspended for the game so didn’t take his place in the dugout. Benfica opened the scoring in the 14th minute through Rafa Silva to briefly bring the score level at 1-1 on aggregate, only for Aurelien Tchouameni to equalise two minutes later for Madrid.

Madrid maintained its record of playing in the round of 16 every year this century and will play either Manchester City or Sporting Lisbon next. PSG keeps title defence alive: PSG also survived an early scare in the second leg to advance out of the playoffs for a second straight season.

Protecting a 3-2 lead from last week, the titleholder went behind to Maghnes Akliouche’s 45th-minute goal but was then boosted by a red card to Monaco’s Mamadou Coulibaly in the 58th. Goals by Marquinhos and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia put PSG in front in the game. Jordan Teze’s stoppage-time equaliser came too late for Monaco. PSG’s reward is a meeting with either Barcelona or Chelsea. PSG right back Achraf Hakimi played a day after being ordered to stand trial in a rape case.

Juve comeback stamped out by Galatasaray: Juventus almost pulled off one of the great Champions League recoveries. Trailing 5-2 from the first leg, Juve went ahead against Galatasaray when Manuel Locatelli converted a penalty before halftime and overcame a red card to its defender Lloyd Kelly by scoring more goals through Federico Gatti and Weston McKennie to take the game to extra time. It could have been worse for Galatasaray, with Kenan Yildiz also hitting the post for Juventus in regulation. Galatasaray fought back in the added 30 minutes with an extra man, scoring through Victor Osimhen and Baris Yilmaz as Juve won 3-2 on the night but lost 7-5 on aggregate.

Atalanta the only Italian team standing after wild finish: With Juventus out, Italy’s record of having at least one team in the round of 16 since that stage was reintroduced to the Champions League in 2003-04 was only maintained thanks to Atalanta’s remarkable fightback against Dortmund. Atalanta substitute Lazar Samardzic converted a penalty with the last kick of the game in the eighth minute of stoppage time following a video review to seal a 4-1 win on the night and a 4-3 victory on aggregate.

Extra time was looming when a mistake by Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel allowed Atalanta to launch one last attack, after the allotted three minutes of stoppage time had been played. A cross into the area was about to reach Nikola Krstovic when Dortmund defender Remy Bensabaini flicked out his boot and caught the Atalanta substitute on the head, drawing blood. A corner was initially given but after a VAR check, a penalty was awarded, Bensabaini was shown a second yellow card, and Samardzic sent his penalty into the top corner, sparking joyous scenes inside the stadium in Bergamo.

Serie A champion Napoli didn’t even make the playoffs after finishing in 30th place in the 36-team league phase and Inter Milan was eliminated by tiny Norwegian team Bodø/Glimt in the playoffs on Tuesday. Atalanta will play either Arsenal or Bayern Munich next: All set for the round of 16: Bodø/Glimt, Atletico Madrid, Newcastle and Bayer Leverkusen all advanced from the playoffs on Tuesday.

 Vinicius stars for Madrid again

Madrid : After being loudly booed, Vinicius Junior danced again. This time in front of Real Madrid supporters while leading his team to the round of 16 of the Champions League, a week after accusing a Benfica opponent of racially insulting him. Vinicius scored an 80th-minute goal to give Madrid a 2-1 victory and a 3-1 aggregate win over Benfica at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in the second leg of the Champions League playoffs on Wednesday. Vinicius celebrated by dancing by the corner flag just like in the first leg — then in front of Benfica fans — which ignited a confrontation with Benfica players and the accusation that Gianluca Prestianni called him “monkey.”

“That’s our Vinicius,” said Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, who scored Madrid’s first goal in the 16th, a couple of minutes after Benfica had taken the lead through Rafa Silva. Prestianni, who has denied racially insulting Vinicius and has been defended by Benfica, was provisionally suspended one match by UEFA and did not play on Wednesday even though the Argentine traveled to the Spanish capital. UEFA earlier Wednesday rejected Benfica’s last-minute appeal against the provisional suspension. Last week’s match was halted for nearly 10 minutes after the referee installed the anti-racism protocol following Vinicius’ complaint to him. On Wednesday, Vinicius scored on a breakaway, calmly sending a low shot past the goalkeeper for his sixth goal in his last five matches for Madrid.

Loud boos: The more than 3,000 Benfica fans at the Bernabeu had jeered nearly every time Vinicius touched the ball early on. At one point, they celebrated when Vinicius lost control of the ball. The Benfica supporters also booed emphatically when the name of the Brazilian player was announced in the starting lineup ahead of the match. The boos gradually lost force as the match went on and Madrid took control of the game.  Last week, a few Benfica fans were seen doing monkey gestures from the stands after the match at the Stadium of Light.

Vinicius also participated in the buildup of what would have been Madrid’s second goal in the first half but it was disallowed for offside. Anti-racism banner: Before Wednesday’s match, Madrid fans displayed a banner saying “No To Racism.”  A “respect” banner also was shown behind one of the goals at the Bernabeu. Madrid fans also jeered when Benfica central defender Nicolas Otamendi touched the ball. Otamendi, who is also Argentine, was one of the players that confronted Vinicius after the Brazilian’s celebration by the Benfica flag.

Also missing for Benfica was coach Jose Mourinho, the former Madrid coach who sent off late in the first leg for complaining to the referee. Mourinho did not participate in the pre-game news conference on Tuesday, and was expected to watch the match from the stands at the Bernabeu.

Asencio injured: Madrid defender Raul Asencio had to be carried off the field on a stretcher and taken to a local hospital for tests after a hard collision with teammate Eduardo Camavinga in the second half. The central defender hit the ground hard and had to be attended for a few minutes on the field.