A below-par Benfica held off a spirited comeback from Monaco in a thrilling draw in Lisbon to seal their place in the Champions League last 16.
Vangelis Pavlidis’ superb goal in Monaco last week gave the Portuguese side a 1-0 lead in the play-off first leg, but it was the Ligue 1 side who were superior at the Estadio da Luz.
Monaco’s appeals for an early penalty were denied before Krepin Diatta forced Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin into a superb save.
Despite their slack start, the hosts were gifted a 22nd-minute opener.
Monaco defender Wilfried Singo slipped under pressure and presented the ball to the in-form Pavlidis, who fired across the face of goal for Kerem Aktürkoglu to convert on the slide.
To Monaco’s credit they bounced back and almost equalised when Breel Embolo’s header bounced off the post and rolled across the face of goal.
Less than a minute later they got the goal they deserved as former Liverpool attacker Takumi Minamino squeezed a shot inside Trubin’s near post.
Monaco should have levelled the tie at 2-2 in first-half injury-time, but Embolo spooned his effort over after Maghnes Akliouche put him through.
The second half began with Eliesse ben Seghir forcing Trubin into another fine save, but minutes later the Ukrainian goalkeeper could only watch as the Moroccan curled a strike into the bottom corner.
Yet just like earlier, Monaco handed Benfica another chance to retake the lead. Captain Thilo Kehrer kicked the back of Fredrik Aursnes’ leg and Pavlidis converted the resulting penalty for his seventh goal of the campaign.
Monaco made it 3-2 on the night with nine minutes left through substitute George Ilenikhena, but three minutes later Orkun Kokcu flicked Alvaro Fernandez’s pin-point cross past visiting goalkeeper Radoslaw Majecki to level and secure a remarkable 4-3 aggregate win.
Benfica will face either Barcelona or Liverpool in the last 16.
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Publish date : 2025-02-17 15:59:00
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