WITH Kylian Mbappé back in the squad, Real Madrid returns to Portugal looking for some payback against José Mourinho’s Benfica in the Champions League.
Three weeks after Mourinho’s team stunned his former club in a 4-2 win that allowed Benfica to qualify and kept the Spanish giant from automatically reaching the round of 16, the two teams will meet again at the Stadium of Light in the first round of the knockout stage.
Benfica got the goal it needed to qualify thanks to a last-minute header by goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin against Madrid, allowing it to grab the 24th and final spot for the
• Kylian Mbappe
knockout stage on goal difference.
The rematch highlights a knockout round that will also include defending champion Paris Saint-Germain against Monaco and Inter Milan, last year’s runner-up, facing Norwegian outsider Bodø/Glimt.
Mbappé, who already has 38 goals for Madrid this season, will be available again after he missed the Spanish league match against Real Sociedad at the weekend because of discomfort on his knee. He has scored nine goals in his last six matches with Madrid, including both goals in the loss to Benfica.
On Friday, it lost 3-1 at Rennes in the French league for its third defeat of the year and sixth this season.
Monaco, which finished 21st in the league phase, beat Nantes 3-1 on Friday, but before that it had won only once in its last seven matches across all tournaments.
Inter heads to its match at Bodø/Glimt on Wednesday after six straight victories, including Saturday’s last-minute 3-2 triumph over Juventus, a result that increased its Serie A lead. Inter won its first four games in the league phase this season, but then lost three in a row before finishing off with an away victory at Borussia Dortmund that secured it 10th place.
PSG dropped out of the top eight that automatically qualified for the last-16 after a 1-1 home draw against Newcastle in the last round of the league phase, dropping it to 11th place.
Bodø/Glimt, in its first Champions League campaign, needed back-to-back upset wins against Manchester City and Atletico Madrid to make it to the knockout round in 23rd place.
The other first legs today include Juventus visiting Galatasaray and Dortmund hosting Atalanta. Tomorrow, Newcastle will be at Qarabag, Olympiakos hosts Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico visits Club Brugge.-AP
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