Vinicius Junior scored and alleged he was racially abused as Real Madrid secured a 1-0 victory away to Benfica in the first leg of their Champions League play-off tie on Tuesday, while Paris Saint-Germain came from two goals down to defeat Monaco 3-2.
Elsewhere, Galatasaray stunned Juventus 5-2 in Istanbul, and Borussia Dortmund gained the upper hand against Atalanta with a 2-0 first-leg victory.
Madrid travelled to Lisbon less than three weeks after a dramatic 4-2 defeat to the same opponents, when goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin scored a stunning late goal to send the Portuguese side through to the knockout stages, forcing Real into the play-offs.
Jose Mourinho hoped to inspire another victory against the club he managed from 2010 to 2013, but the night was overshadowed by Vinicius’s allegations of racist abuse.
The Brazilian scored a superb goal early in the second half, firing into the top corner, but his celebration was quickly penalised with a booking for dancing in front of the crowd.
That sparked an exchange with Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni, who pulled his shirt over his mouth before appearing to say something to Vinicius.
The Real forward then ran to referee Francois Letexier, pointing at Prestianni, seemingly claiming he had been called “mono”, the Spanish word for monkey.
The incident caused a several-minute delay, after which Vinicius was jeered by the home supporters. Mourinho was later sent off in the final stages for protesting too strongly over a potential second yellow card for Vinicius, ruling him out of the second leg at the Bernabéu next week.
The long stoppage resulted in 12 minutes of added time, but Benfica were unable to find an equaliser, leaving them with a tough task in Spain.
“(What happened) is something that nobody likes; you have to ask the Benfica player what he said,” Alvaro Arbeloa told Movistar. “(Racism) is something we have to eradicate from football, and if players don’t address it, it becomes very complicated.”
Galatasaray stun Juventus
In Monaco, reigning European champions PSG recovered from a disastrous start as Desire Doue inspired a comeback from two goals down.
United States star Folarin Balogun opened the scoring after 55 seconds and doubled the lead in 18 minutes.
Vitinha then missed a penalty, and last year’s Ballon d’Or winner, Ousmane Dembele, was forced off injured before the half-hour mark, but his replacement, Doue, became the hero.
He scored within two minutes of entering the field and assisted Achraf Hakimi for the equaliser just before half-time.
Monaco’s Aleksandr Golovin was sent off at the start of the second half for a challenge on Vitinha before Doue scored the winner on 67 minutes.
“He is an incredible player and a different player. I am very pleased for him because he deserved it,” PSG coach Luis Enrique told Canal Plus of Doue.
Earlier, Galatasaray produced a thrilling display to beat Juventus 5-2 in Turkey, with Noa Lang scoring twice.
Gabriel Sara gave the hosts an early lead, but Teun Koopmeiners scored twice to put Juventus ahead at half-time.
Lang equalised shortly after the break, and Davinson Sanchez restored the home lead before Juventus had Juan Cabal sent off. Lang scored his second, and substitute Sacha Boey sealed the 5-2 victory, leaving Juventus with a difficult return leg.
Borussia Dortmund, beaten finalists in 2024, are on course to eliminate another Italian side after a 2-0 first-leg win over Atalanta, with Serhou Guirassy opening the scoring and Maximilian Beier adding a second just before half-time.
