The date of the exciting summit between Real Madrid and Benfica Mourinho in the European Champions League

Attention is focused on the qualifying round for the Champions League quarter-finals in football, to the renewed confrontation between Real Madrid of Spain and Benfica of Portugal on Tuesday (12 pm UAE time) in Lisbon, while defending champion Paris Saint-Germain is engaged in a sensitive confrontation with its compatriot Monaco at the same time.
After eight matches played by each of the 36 teams in the unified group stage, the top eight clubs qualified directly to the round of 16, while the clubs that occupied the ninth and twenty-fourth places faced back and forth to catch up.
Coincidentally, Real Madrid was drawn against the team of its former coach, the Portuguese Jose Mourinho, after they lost 4-2 in Lisbon in a “crazy summit,” which deprived them of direct qualification and gave Benfica the final qualifying card for the playoffs on goal difference, thanks to their Ukrainian goalkeeper Anatoly Trubin, who scored the fourth goal in stoppage time.
Five English clubs guaranteed their direct qualification: Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City, while Bayern Munich of Germany, Barcelona of Spain and Sporting of Portugal completed the number.
The confrontations between Real Madrid and Benfica carry a historical flavor, as the latter deprived the Royal Club of the title by defeating them 5-3 in the 1962 final, when the winner, star Eusebio, scored a brace and the loser, Hungarian Ferenc Puskas, scored a hat-trick.
But the Benfica Eagles’ tally stopped at two titles in the 1960s, while Real Madrid won its record 15th title in 2024, with a wide margin over its closest competitor, Milan (7), and it is entering the knockout stages for the 29th time in a row.
The presence of Mourinho, twice crowned coach in the Champions League, on Benfica’s bench gives an additional flavor, after he coached Real Madrid between 2010 and 2013, contenting himself with winning the local league and cup titles.
In the opposite seat, he will meet his former “player” Alvaro Arbeloa, who arrived in mid-January, replacing Xabi Alonso, who was dismissed from his position.
The winner of this confrontation will play with Manchester City or Sporting of Portugal.
On the other hand, French striker Kylian Mbappé returns to the ranks of Real, who has scored 13 goals in seven matches in the Champions League this season, topping the scorers’ rankings by a large margin over English striker Harry Kane, Bayern’s striker (8). The 27-year-old missed the match against Real Sociedad in the local league, which currently leads by two points against its rival Barcelona, ​​which plays on Monday.
Arbeloa explained that Mbappe’s absence was precautionary because he felt slight physical discomfort, and that the club preferred not to take any risks. “Mbappe is in very good condition. He has been suffering from some minor discomfort for some time and is making a great effort to play, so we did not want to take any risks today before Tuesday’s match.”
Real’s Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois admitted, “Playing this play-off was not what we wanted, but it is what we have to do, and we are facing a great team that hurt us in their stadium.”
The giant goalkeeper continued, “We have to improve, learn from that defeat, and maintain the same spirit with which we played against Real Sociedad to achieve a good result. Things will be different because it is a home-and-away match, but we know that they will be looking for an advantage on their home field, and we must be united defensively and offensively to return to the Bernabeu with a good result.”