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).
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