Champions League

2026-02-25 - Real Madrid vs Benfica

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Real Madrid v Benfica
Football: UEFA Champions League Knock Out Play Off Second Leg
Wednesday 25th February 2026 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV

Real Madrid

After scoring a great goal following plenty of goading from the supporters and the opposition players, Vinicius Jr cannot be criticised for wanting to celebrate the fantastic strike. That turned out to be the winner in the First Leg of this Knock Out Play Off tie, but the fixture was overshadowed by a despicable act from a Benfica player, Gianluca Prestianni, and that is something UEFA are going to have to deal with.

The advantage is with Real Madrid on the field, while they will be looking to see what kind of action UEFA take off the field. A 2-1 defeat at Osasuna last time out has allowed Barcelona to take over at the top of the Spanish Primera Division, but Real Madrid's focus for now is making sure they reach the Champions League Last 16 having compiled a 3-0-1 home record in the League Phase that concluded last month.

Real Madrid have won 12 of the last 16 games played in all competitions, but all of the exceptions have ended in defeat and this tie is still in the balance. The home form has been strong in recent weeks and Real Madrid have won 6 in a row in the Spanish capital in all competitions, including thumping Monaco 6-1 in the Champions League.

Benfica

There has been plenty of criticism thrown at Jose Mourinho for the way he handled the situation last week when he ultimately sounded like he was blaming Vinicius Jr for Gianluca Prestianni's actions. He will be facing the media again this week and Mourinho may actually feel the focus on him will help his players, even if there is going to be a lot of attention on this fixture following what happened in the First Leg.

The manager will be trying to keep the players directed on Real Madrid as Benfica look to overturn the First Leg deficit, but like many underdogs, it feels like the best opportunity may have been lost at home. The side only made it through to the Knock Out Rounds thanks to goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin's injury time goal against this same opponent on Match Day 8 of the Champions League, but that was played at the Stadium of Light and Benfica finished the League Phase with a 1-0-3 away record.

Benfica have won 3 of the last 4 games in all competitions, but they remain 7 points behind Portuguese League leaders Porto. They have won 2 of the last 6 away games in all competitions and Benfica have suffered losses at Porto and Juventus in that time, which makes the task in front of them look all the more difficult.

It would be a real surprise if Gianluca Prestianni is travelling to this fixture after all the controversy around the player.

Head to Head

These teams are meeting for the third time within a month and there is no love lost between those on the field.

Benfica have hosted both of those previous fixtures and beaten Real Madrid 4-2 in the League Phase before the 0-1 defeat last week.

Despite both clubs having strong European pedigree, this is only the second time Real Madrid are hosting Benfica and first time since all the way back in the 1964/65 season.

Prediction

Sadly the headlines from the First Leg were little to do with football and there are going to be plenty of eyes on this Second Leg after the racism allegations made by Vinicius Jr against Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni.

You simply cannot ignore the situation after the First Leg was delayed by ten minutes in the second half and UEFA have a big situation on their hands.

Both managers will want to focus the players on the fixture, but Jose Mourinho made some controversial comments after the First Leg and those have placed plenty of unwanted attention on him.

The controversy is going to be an 'x factor' around this game, but you do have to feel that Real Madrid's quality will be the big headline on Thursday morning.

They are expected to have too much for a Benfica team that have not travelled well in the Champions League and who recently lost an away game at Portuguese League leaders Porto.

Jose Mourinho will likely want to set his team up to be hard to beat, but they were dominated at home last week and Real Madrid should show a bit more composure in the final third to take away any footballing drama around the Second Leg.

Real Madrid created 4 Big Chances in the win last week and they have been much stronger at home in recent weeks- the side have won 6 in a row here in all competitions since the defeat to Manchester City in December and the expectation is that the Spanish giants will end up being able to put a gloss on the final scoreline when Benfica finally try and chase the tie.

Benfica have suffered pretty comfortable away defeats at Newcastle United and Juventus in the Champions League and that may be the case again in this Knock Out Play Off Second Leg.