Real Madrid on Wednesday were dumped into the qualifying playoffs of the UEFA Champions League by their former coach Jose Mourinho — whose SL Benfica team advanced on a last-gasp goal by their goalkeeper — with the La Liga side to be joined there by title holders Paris Saint-Germain.
Real Madrid started play third in the 36-team standings and despite two goals by Kylian Mbappe lost 4-2 to Benfica and fell to ninth — one place below advancing direct to the round of 16.
Astonishingly, Benfica only advanced to the knockout phase in 24th place on goal-difference because Ukrainian goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin scored in the eighth minute of stoppage-time with a dramatic header when Madrid were down to nine players.
Photo: AP
Red cards were shown minutes earlier for Raul Asencio and Rodrygo.
Benfica were awarded a foul near the penalty area, prompting Mourinho to pull Trubin forward for the set piece.
Moments later, Trubin was at the bottom of a pile of Benfica players celebrating his goal, in which he connected with the free-kick cross by Fredrik Aursnes.
Photo: Reuters
“This victory is historic and important,” Mourinho said, adding of his goalkeeper: “We knew that he could do it. You have to put the ball there, but it’s an amazing goal for the guy.”
Trubin said it was a “crazy moment. I’m not used to scoring. I’m 24 years old and it’s the first time.”
Madrid fell out of the top-eight places when Sporting got a stoppage-time goal in a 3-2 win against Athletic Bilbao.
Photo: AFP
Sporting surprisingly joined Liverpool — who beat Qarabag (22nd) 6-0 — Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester City in sealing top-eight finishes. Table-topping Arsenal, who completed a perfect eight-win program by beating Kairat Almaty 3-2, and second-placed Bayern Munich had already advanced to the round of 16, which is scheduled to start in March.
PSG and Newcastle United both started in the top eight, but drew 1-1 in Paris, which sent both falling in the standings to 11th and 12th respectively. The game had an explosive start when Newcastle conceded a penalty for a handball in the first minute, but Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele’s spot-kick was saved by Nick Pope.
Madrid, PSG, Newcastle and last year’s beaten finalist Inter all are in the qualifying playoffs draw, to be held today, for teams who placed ninth through 24th.
Photo: Reuters
Still, PSG went through the playoffs round a year ago in taking the longest path possible with two extra games in February toward their first European title.
There is a 50-50 chance that Mourinho’s Benfica would face Real Madrid and Mbappe two more times next month.
The bracket for the playoffs means the ninth-place team, Madrid, can be drawn only against the team who placed either 23rd or 24th. That is, respectively, Bodo/Glimt or Benfica.
If Benfica are not paired with Madrid, then it would be the 10th-place team, Inter — whom Mourinho led to the 2010 Champions League title.
It is a remarkable renaissance for Mourinho, who lost his job at Fenerbahce in August last year after losing in the Champions League qualifying playoffs against Benfica.
Norwegian debutant Bodo/Glimt claimed 23rd place by winning 2-1 against Atletico Madrid (14th). That showed how crucial it was that they beat Manchester City last week.
Benfica’s late drama eliminated Olympique de Marseille, who lost 3-0 against Club Brugge and dropped below the cutoff into 25th place with nine points.
Also in the playoffs are Qarabag, Club Brugge, Galatasaray and Olympiakos, plus Juventus and Atalanta BC.
Serie A champions SSC Napoli were ousted form the league in 30th place after losing 3-2 at home to Chelsea.
At halftime, the in-play standings showed Chelsea in 12th and Barcelona 13th, both heading for the playoffs.
Barcelona were trailing at home to lowly Copenhagen, whose goal was scored by 17-year-old Icelandic striker Viktor Dadason.
Barcelona flipped the game in the second half of a 4-1 win with goals from a stellar forward line: Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Marcus Rashford.
The other teams who qualified were: Bayer 04 Leverkusen (14th), Borussia Dortmund (17th) and AS Monaco (21st).
The Philadelphia 76ers, fueled by 36 points from Tyrese Maxey and a triple-double from Joel Embiid, on Thursday beat the Houston Rockets 128-122 in an NBA overtime thriller. Cameroonian big man Embiid scored 32 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and handed out 10 assists, posting the ninth triple-double of his career to help the Sixers end the Rockets’ three-game winning streak. Rockets star Kevin Durant scored 36 points and Amen Thompson added 17, but Thompson was scoreless in the fourth quarter. Even so, the Rockets led by nine midway through the final frame, Maxey tying it at 115-115 with 40.1 seconds left. Durant missed a
Luka Doncic on Monday produced a 46-point masterpiece as the Los Angeles Lakers snapped the Chicago Bulls’ four-game winning streak with a 129-118 victory on the road. Doncic rattled in eight three-pointers on 15-of-25 shooting from the field, finishing with seven rebounds and 11 assists to lead an impressive Lakers effort at the United Center. LeBron James chipped in with 24 points, five rebounds and three assists, while Rui Hachimura delivered an eye-catching cameo off the bench with 23 points from nine-of-11 shooting. The win was another encouraging result for the Lakers after a 116-110 defeat of the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday. “We did
The Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo on Friday said that he will probably be out for an extended period after hurting his right calf again after a similar injury caused him to miss eight games earlier this season. Antetokounmpo had his right calf wrapped in the first half of their 102-100 loss to the Denver Nuggets. He did not appear comfortable the rest of the night and left for good with 34 seconds remaining. “At the end, I could not move no more, so I had to stop playing,” Antetokounmpo said. The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player said he expected to undergo an MRI
Taiwanese FORTUNES: Wu Fang-hsien and Hsieh Su-wei both advanced to the last 16 of the women’s doubles, but Ray Ho was ousted in the men’s doubles Carlos Alcaraz yesterday stepped up his quest to win a maiden Australian Open as he overwhelmed showman Corentin Moutet to reach the last 16, while Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and Hsieh Su-wei both advanced to the last 16 of the women’s doubles. Three-time finalist Daniil Medvedev battled through on day six at a warm and sunny Melbourne Park, as did Coco Gauff. Top seed Alcaraz was never in danger against French 32nd seed Moutet, easing through 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 at Rod Laver Arena in 2 hours, 5 minutes. It was the Spaniard’s 100th Grand Slam match and he boasts a remarkable 87-13 win-loss record,
RSS