With the winning goal and another corner-flag dance, Vinícius Júnior fittingly had the final say in an emotionally charged rematch with Benfica to guide Real Madrid into the round of 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday.
Defending champion Paris Saint-Germain also advanced out of the playoffs — but only after narrowly getting past Monaco — while Atalanta pulled off a remarkable comeback against Borussia Dortmund with a dramatic last-second goal to maintain Italian involvement in the competition.
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Juventus fell short of completing its own stunning second-leg recovery, though, eliminated by Galatasaray after extra time.
Vinícius jeered by Benfica fans
Playing a week after being the target of alleged racial abuse in the first leg against Benfica, Vinícius wrapped up Madrid’s 2-1 win over the Portuguese team — and a 3-1 victory on aggregate — with his team’s second goal in the 80th minute at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
The Brazil star slotted a low finish into the corner and celebrated his goal like he did last week, by dancing beside the corner flag.
Vinícius was loudly booed by Benfica fans nearly every time he touched the ball, a hangover from the first leg when he accused Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni of calling him a “monkey”
Prestianni has denied racially insulting Vinícius while confronting him with his jersey over his mouth, but did not play Wednesday’s game after being provisionally banned for one match by UEFA. Benfica coach Jose Mourinho, who previously led Madrid, was also suspended for the game so didn't take his place in the dugout.
Benfica opened the scoring in the 14th minute through Rafa Silva to briefly bring the score level at 1-1 on aggregate, only for Aurelien Tchouameni to equalize two minutes later for Madrid.
Madrid maintained its record of playing in the round of 16 every year this century and will play either Manchester City or Sporting Lisbon next.
PSG keeps title defense alive
PSG also survived an early scare in the second leg to advance out of the playoffs for a second straight season.
Protecting a 3-2 lead from last week, the titleholder went behind to Maghnes Akliouche's 45th-minute goal but was then boosted by a red card to Monaco's Mamadou Coulibaly in the 58th.
Goals by Marquinhos and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia put PSG in front in the game. Jordan Teze’s stoppage-time equalizer came too late for Monaco.
PSG's reward is a meeting with either Barcelona or Chelsea.
PSG right back Achraf Hakimi played a day after being ordered to stand trial in a rape case.
Juve comeback stamped out by Galatasaray
Juventus almost pulled off one of the great Champions League recoveries.
Trailing 5-2 from the first leg, Juve went ahead against Galatasaray when Manuel Locatelli converted a penalty before halftime and overcame a red card to its defender Lloyd Kelly by scoring more goals through Federico Gatti and Weston McKennie to take the game to extra time.
It could have been worse for Galatasaray, with Kenan Yıldız also hitting the post for Juventus in regulation.
Galatasaray fought back in the added 30 minutes with an extra man, scoring through Victor Osimhen and Barış Yılmaz as Juve won 3-2 on the night but lost 7-5 on aggregate.
Atalanta the only Italian team standing after wild finish
With Juventus out, Italy’s record of having at least one team in the round of 16 since that stage was reintroduced to the Champions League in 2003-04 was only maintained thanks to Atalanta’s remarkable fightback against Dortmund.
Atalanta substitute Lazar Samardzic converted a penalty with the last kick of the game in the eighth minute of stoppage time following a video review to seal a 4-1 win on the night and a 4-3 victory on aggregate.
Extra time was looming when a mistake by Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel allowed Atalanta to launch one last attack, after the allotted three minutes of stoppage time had been played. A cross into the area was about to reach Nikola Krstovic when Dortmund defender Remy Bensabaini flicked out his boot and caught the Atalanta substitute on the head, drawing blood.
A corner was initially given but after a VAR check, a penalty was awarded, Bensabaini was shown a second yellow card, and Samardzic sent his penalty into the top corner, sparking joyous scenes inside the stadium in Bergamo.
Serie A champion Napoli didn’t even make the playoffs after finishing in 30th place in the 36-team league phase and Inter Milan was eliminated by tiny Norwegian team Bodø/Glimt in the playoffs on Tuesday.
Atalanta will play either Arsenal or Bayern Munich next.
All set for the round of 16
Bodø/Glimt, Atletico Madrid, Newcastle and Bayer Leverkusen all advanced from the playoffs on Tuesday.
The draw for the round of 16 is on Friday.
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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer