Portugal’s Benfica, with Ukrainians Anatoliy Trubine and Georgiy Sudakov, secured a decisive victory over Real Madrid (4:2) and advanced to the Champions League playoffs.
This was reported by Suspilne Sport.
After the match, Trubin, who scored the winning goal in stoppage time, wrote: “For Ukraine. For those who know how to fight to the end.” The Ukrainian goalkeeper posted on his Instagram page.
Before the final round of the main round, Benfica was two points behind the playoff zone, so the match against Real Madrid was crucial. Both Trubin and Sudakov were in the starting lineup.
During the match, Anatolii Trubin made four saves but conceded twice to Kylian Mbappé. The Frenchman scored the first goal in the 30th minute with a header after a pass from Raul Asensio, and the second in the 58th minute after a pass from Arda Güler, with the ball flying into the left corner of the goal in both cases.
Heorhiy Sudakov spent 83 minutes on the field. During this time, the Ukrainian made four key passes, completed 15 passes with 87% accuracy, made two shots off target, and won five ground duels.
The climax of the match came in the 90+8th minute, when Trubin joined the attack and sent the ball into the left corner of the goal with a header, scoring a crucial goal.
Thanks to this victory, Benfica climbed four positions in the Champions League table, earned nine points, and took 24th place, the last qualifying spot that gives a ticket to the playoffs.
The Lisbon club will play its next match on February 1 against Tondela in the Portuguese championship.