Not only Juventus and Atalanta. On Champions Tuesday, four other teams took to the field, with as many as twotop clubs playing away.
In the Principality, PSG visited Monaco in a French derby with a spot in the round of 16 at stake.
In Lisbon, however, Real Madrid visited José Mourinho's Benfica, in a rematch of the last round of the single group stage, where the Portuguese goalkeeper, Trubin, secured a playoff qualification for his team with a header goal in injury time.
BENFICA-REAL MADRID 0-1
A big win for Real, who won in Lisbon and took a clear lead in the two-legged tie with Benfica. But at Da Luz, it wasn't a pretty game, as expected.
Arbeloa this time beats his master thanks to the brilliance of Vinicius Jr., who at the 50th minute took matters into his own hands and crafted a rainbow shot that went straight into the top corner. Not even a superman version of Trubin could do anything about it.
⚠️ Vinicius and the alleged racist insults from Prestianni
But Vini is always Vini. The Brazilian talent has always been genius and recklessness, and so the celebration with a dance at the corner flag wasn't too well received by the referee, who showed him a yellow card (probably overreacting).
From that moment (we're at the 50th minute) the game stopped for about ten minutes. The reason was what happened in midfield between Vinicius and Prestianni, with the Real player asking the referee to stop the match. Why? According to the number 7 blanco, Prestianni allegedly directed racist remarks: "Mono, mono", "monkey, monkey" at him.
It's impossible to understand from the lip reading, as the Benfica player covers his mouth with his shirt. During the interminable pause that follows, Vinicius also talks with José Mourinho, and from what can be seen, it's not a friendly chat.
Mou won't be there in seven days at the Bernabeu, in what would have been his grand return to the stadium where he was at home between 2010 and 2013. The Portuguese coach was sent off at the 85th minute for protesting. The reason? Requesting a yellow card, obviously for... Vinicius!
In the end, Otamendi also got involved. On the last corner of the match, the Argentine defender made sure to show Vinicius the tattoo on his chest, which displays the World Cup won in 2022. Yet another provocation in a match where little football was played, but everything happened.
MONACO-PSG 2-3
A beautiful, crazy match, full of emotions and twists of all kinds. Monaco-PSG was all this, and for 27 minutes it seemed that the European champions might really risk elimination.
The double from former Inter target Balogun - in the 1st and 18th minutes - had put things in favor for the home team, which at the 22nd minute also benefited from the adrenaline boost of Vitinha's missed penalty (great save by Kohn).
Dembélé's injury at the 27th minute seemed to complete the nightmare evening for the Parisians, who instead found the weapon from the bench that changed the fate of this first leg.
💎 Doué unleashed
In place of the Ballon d'Or winner, Luis Enrique brought in Doué, who two minutes later reopened the match. Before halftime, Hakimi then leveled the score.
The definitive turning point came at the 48th minute with a red card forGolovin, after a VAR check, for a bad tackle on Vitinha.
From that moment, it was a solo by the visitors, who turned it around at the 67th minute, again with Doué.
The Parisians were initially distracted, but as often happens, the quality in Luis Enrique's hands ensures that, one way or another, the champions emerge. Always.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.