Soccer
Champions League Wednesday wrap-up: Real Madrid oust Benfica, Atalanta fly Serie A flag, and more
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The final day of the Champions League's knockout phase play-offs were on Wednesday, with four more teams advancing to the round of 16.
Included in the action was a big day for Atalanta, another impactful performance from Vini Jr., and an all-Ligue 1 dogfight.
Here are some of the bigger talking points from Wednesday's Champions League action.
Atalanta break Serie A curse, Juve not so lucky
Much has been made about the poor performances of the Italian sides in this edition of the Champions League, from Napoli's woeful 30th-place showing in the league phase to Inter Milan's shocking elimination at the hands of FK Bodø/Glimt on Tuesday.
That left Atalanta and Juventus to try to restore pride in Serie A on Wednesday, with both clubs facing multiple-goal deficits heading into their respective second legs.
La Dea were up first in Wednesday's early kick-off, staring down a 2-0 advantage by Borussia Dortmund. They wasted little time in reversing the deficit, with Gianluca Scamacca scoring in the fifth minute before David Zappacosta and Mario Pasalaic added goals in the 45th and 57th, respectively.
Dortmund got one back in the 75th minute, potentially forcing extra time, but a late bit of madness resulted in a successful Lazar Samardžić penalty kick deep into stoppage time to secure Atalanta's advancement and spare Serie A's blushes.
Juventus found themselves in an even worse position than Atalanta, having lost their first leg match at Galatasaray by a 5-2 score.
The Bianconeri needed to overturn a three-goal deficit at home, and they actually did just that by scoring in the 37th, 70th and 82nd minutes. It was even more impressive a feat given that Juve were down to 10 players for much of the contest, as Lloyd Kelly was sent off just after halftime.
Things seemed to be aligning for a famous comeback victory, with Juve forcing extra time against their Turkish visitors. However, the Italian giants' luck ran out as Victor Osimhen and Barış Alper Yılmaz scored in ET to give Galatasaray a 7-5 aggregate victory over the two legs.
Vini Jr., Real Madrid eliminate Benfica
With last week's ugliness setting the backdrop of Wednesday second leg, Los Blancos appeared determined to put things beyond doubt.
At the centre of it all was Vinicius Jr., the victim of alleged racial abuse in Leg 1 after scoring the only goal in a 1-0 victory for Madrid. The alleged offender, Gianluca Prestianni, was not on the field as he has been provisionally suspended by UEFA as an investigation into the incident continues, but that didn't stop Real Madrid fans from showing their support for Vini Jr. with anti-racism banners in the stands and vocal encouragement when he was on the ball.
However, it was Benfica who took an early lead on Wednesday, with Rafa Silva striking in the 14th minute of play. The advantage was very short-lived as Real Madrid struck back through Aurelien Tchouameni just two minutes later, setting the stage for Vini Jr. to do what he does best.
With the match still to be decided as the clock neared 90 minutes, the Brazilian scored his team's winning goal — again — to give Real Madrid a 2-1 win on the day (3-1 on aggregate).
Vini's goalscoring exploits don't solve the bigger issue at play of course, but it's appropriate that he was the player to decide both games through his exceptional talents.
PSG win epic battle against Ligue 1 foes
If any two games stand out above the rest in this knockout phase play-off, it has to be the ones involves Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco.
Last week saw the Parisians claim a 3-2 victory in Monaco against a home side that finished the match with 10 men. On Wednesday, it was PSG's turn to host and Monaco pushed the defending Champions League winners to the brink in a 2-2 draw that once again saw a member of Les Rouge et Blanc get sent off.
There's clearly no love lost between these sides, and that made for two compelling legs.
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