Real

Newcastle will play Qarabag in a two-legged play-off to reach the last 16 of the Champions League.

The Magpies drew 1-1 with defending champions Paris St-Germain on Wednesday in the league phase to seal 12th place.

PSG, who finished 11th, will face Monaco while 15-time European champions Real Madrid will meet former manager Jose Mourinho’s Benfica.

The first legs of the play-offs will take place on 17-18 February, with the second legs one week later.

The Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary will hosts the 2025-26 final on 30 May.

More to follow.

French forward Kylian Mbappe questions team’s desire after damaging defeat sends Real Madrid into playoffs.

Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe has said his team “deserve” to be in their current situation because they were not consistent enough for a top-eight spot as his side slipped into the Champions League playoff round.

The record 15-time European champions fell to a 4-2 defeat at Jose Mourinho’s Benfica on Wednesday, finishing ninth in the league phase table, meaning they must face their Portuguese conquerors or Bodo/Glimt in February instead of reaching the last 16 directly.

After three wins in their previous three matches under new coach Alvaro Arbeloa, Madrid were brought back down to earth by Benfica in Lisbon.

“The problem is we aren’t consistent in our play, we have to fix that, you can’t have one day [playing well] and another not, a champion team does not do that,” Mbappe told reporters.

“We deserve to be in this situation today. Benfica were better. Now we have to play two more playoff games. It hurts to have to play those. We wanted to have the time in February to work on our game.”

Mbappe said he could not put his finger on a clear reason why Madrid played so poorly against Benfica.

“I think it’s a bit of everything. I can’t tell you it’s just a matter of attitude, because if I only say that, you’ll think we came here without any desire,” said the French superstar, who scored twice in the defeat.

“If I tell you it’s a football issue, you’ll think the team is bad. No, I think it’s a broader issue, and in the Champions League, every detail matters if you want to beat your opponent.

“It shows you that if you don’t come in with everything you need to win a Champions League match, the opponent will come and, as they say, make fools of you.”

However, Mbappe called on Madrid’s fans to support the team at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday against Rayo Vallecano in La Liga, rather than booing as they did earlier in January.

“Come and support the team – we had a bad game – but we are not knocked out of the Champions League, and in La Liga we’re in a good dynamic now,” pleaded Mbappe.

“If the Bernabeu is with us, we will win on Sunday.”

Firsts are not easy to come by for Jose Mourinho at this stage of his long, often highly dramatic, career.

But on Wednesday night in Lisbon, Anatoly Trubin provided such a moment.

Simply beating 15-time European champions Real Madrid was not going to be enough for Benfica.

In added time to added time, they led 3-2 but needed another goal or their Champions League campaign would be over.

A free-kick provided them with one last chance and goalkeeper Trubin was sent forward.

Moments later it was pandemonium at Estadio da Luz with Benfica players running in all directions and Trubin ending his own euphoric wild charge with a knee slide having scored the decisive goal with a bullet header.

“A fantastic goal, a historic goal, a goal that nearly brought the whole stadium down – and I think it was very deserved for us,” Mourinho said.

“For Benfica it’s an incredible prestige to beat Real Madrid.”

Given the way the league format works with 18 games taking place simultaneously on the final matchday, it is little wonder Trubin was not fully aware of what his side needed.

They were heading out on goal difference at the end of the eight-round league phase, until his sensational intervention. Marseille were the unlucky side, falling out of the play-off places as Benfica snatched their spot.

A couple of minutes before his goal, Trubin had dropped to his knees after claiming a cross, seemingly trying to waste a few seconds to close out the win, unaware Benfica were still going out as it stood.

“Before, I didn’t understand what we needed,” Trubin said. “I see everyone start to point at me and I go and after I see [I can go forward]. We need one more goal.

“I don’t know, I don’t know what to say. A crazy moment.

“I am not used to scoring, so for me it was something completely new. I am 24 years old and for me it’s the first time.”

Benfica beat Real 4-2 which sends both teams into Champions League playoffs, as Madrid miss out on top eight.

Goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin scored an astonishing 98th-minute header as Benfica beat Real Madrid 4-2 to keep themselves in the Champions League and deny their illustrious opponents an automatic spot in the last 16.

In an extraordinary finale on Wednesday, the Portuguese side were ⁠heading out despite leading 3-2 with seconds of stoppage time remaining before Trubin came forward for a free ​kick to score the goal needed to sneak into the playoff round on goal ‍difference.

That sparked wild celebrations from Benfica players, fans and their charismatic coach Jose Mourinho – a former manager of Real Madrid – at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon.

The Spaniards had hoped to finish in the top eight and go straight into the ‍last 16, but ⁠their 15 points from eight games were not enough, and they finished the match with nine men as Raul Asencio and Rodrygo were sent off.

Andreas Schjelderup scored two goals for Benfica and Vangelis Pavlidis netted from the penalty spot, while Kylian Mbappe netted twice for Real in a hugely entertaining, end-to-end contest.

Benfica advance at the expense of Marseille, who lost 3-0 at Club Brugge. The giant screen in the stadium in Belgium congratulated both teams for advancing to the ​next stage, but that proved premature as Trubin turned the tables.

Both Benfica ‌and Real needed a goal for different reasons going into the final minutes, and it is a vindication of the competition’s format that a single goal could have such a dramatic effect on the table.

Benfica were denied two strong early penalty shots, ‌and Real took the lead on 30 minutes against the run of play when Asencio’s cross to the back post was headed in by Mbappe.

The home ‌side drew level six minutes later when Asencio’s slip in the ⁠wet conditions allowed Pavlidis to provide a perfect cross for Schjelderup to head into the net.

Benfica were awarded a penalty in first-half added time when Aurelien Tchouameni was adjudged to have hauled Nicolas Otamendi to the floor, and Pavlidis buried his spot-kick.

Schjelderup ‌scored his second of the game from Pavlidis’s perfect pass to make it 3-1, before Mbappe swept home his second, too – his 36th goal of the season in all competitions.

Benfica were still outside the top 24 ‍when they were awarded a free kick with virtually the final play, and Fredrik Aursnes’s delivery was headed in by Trubin to complete a night of high drama in Lisbon.

Fiery-tempered and fierce-tongued Jose Mourinho softens his tone as former club Real Madrid face crunch game in Benfica.

Benfica coach Jose Mourinho said his Real Madrid counterpart, Alvaro Arbeloa, was like a child to him, in the run-up to their Champions League meeting in the final round of league phase matches.

The veteran Portuguese manager, known for his fiery temper and fierce tongue, coached Arbeloa at Madrid during his time at the helm of Los Blancos between 2010-2013, and had a strong relationship with the former defender in a dressing room that was splintering.

After a comment from Mourinho last week about being “surprised” when inexperienced managers lead big European clubs was viewed as a dig at new Madrid coach Arbeloa, he said he would never try to make life hard for his former charge.

Former Inter Milan coach Mourinho said in Italy that his words were also being taken as criticism of the appointment of Cristian Chivu at the Serie A side last year.

“There is one problem – both Chivu and Arbeloa are my children, they are not just ex-players of mine, but they are special,” Mourinho told a news conference on Tuesday.

“Speaking about Alvaro, I would say that he is one of the players – from a human point of view, from a personal point of view, and personal empathy – he is one of my favourites of them all.

“Obviously, he is not the best player who has played for Real Madrid, but he is certainly one of the best men who has played for me at Real Madrid.”

Mourinho said he was surprised when he himself was offered the chance to lead Benfica at the beginning of his coaching career in 2000, so his words could not be taken as an insult.

“The last thing I would do would be to put pressure on him,” explained the 63-year-old. “I want everything to go well for him, and for him to have a fantastic career as a coach.”

Mourinho said he had not spoken to Arbeloa since the 43-year-old replaced Xabi Alonso at the helm, but that there was no need to.

“My telephone number is very complicated, because there’s only the club’s number, and after that, only my family has it, and then my other phone is always changing, changing, changing,” explained Mourinho.

“People lose my contact, and I lose theirs too, and with Alvaro, it’s not necessary to have a call to say ‘good luck’, he knows it.

“In the same way that I [want Real Madrid to win games], Alvaro wants to beat Benfica, but then after that, he hopes Benfica always win, that’s for sure — no call is necessary.”

Mourinho admitted he could not speak for Arbeloa’s quality as a coach yet because he had not watched Madrid’s reserves or youth teams play.

“I cannot analyse him as a coach because I do not know him,” said Mourinho.

“I’ve only seen results, not followed with my own eyes the trajectory of the youngsters at Madrid.

“I have no advice to give him. The only thing that is important for me is that he is happy, that he likes it, because coaching these days is a very difficult mission.”

Madrid will seal their spot in the last 16 with a victory, while Benfica need to win and hope other results go their way to reach the playoff round.