Benfica’s Jose Mourinho hails goalkeeper’s late goal, Alvaro Arbeloa laments Real Madrid collapse

LISBON – Benfica coach Jose Mourinho described the last-gasp goal scored by his Ukrainian goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin to secure his side a Champions League last-16 place by beating Real Madrid 4-2 on Jan 28 as a “historic” achievement.

Frustrated Real coach Alvaro Arbeloa, meanwhile, highlighted a litany of shortcomings in his team’s performance after their hopes of automatic qualification were dashed and they had to settle for a place in the two-legged play-offs.

For Mourinho, it was an emotional night at Lisbon’s Estadio da Luz, capped by an extraordinary 98th-minute header from Trubin that ensured Benfica snatched a last-16 spot on goal difference.

The Portuguese coach was visibly moved as he spoke to Movistar Plus after the stunning victory.

“It’s normal for me to be emotional. I think it was deserved,” he said, reflecting on the intensity of the contest and the dramatic finale against his former side.

“For Benfica, it’s obviously incredible prestige to beat Real Madrid. The two clubs hadn’t faced each other since the fantastic years, so many years ago. And now, for Benfica’s prestige, for the players’ prestige, it’s something fantastic.”

The teams last played each other in the European Cup quarter-finals in 1965, when Benfica won 6-3 on aggregate before going on to lose in the final. They also met in the 1962 showpiece won 5-3 by the Portuguese side.

Mourinho specially heaped praise on 24-year-old Trubin, whose header from a stoppage-time free kick sent the crowd into raptures.

“I knew we weren’t through yet, that 3-2 wasn’t enough, and we were lucky with a set piece,” the 63-year-old said.

“Our goalkeeper Trubin, who is two metres tall, went into the box and scored a fantastic goal, a historic goal... It felt like the stadium was going to collapse. Incredible.”

In contrast, Arbeloa was left to rue a poor display by his side that saw them lose a 1-0 lead and finish with nine men after Raul Asencio and Rodrygo were sent off in added time.

Kylian Mbappe netted a brace while Andreas Schjelderup scored twice and Vangelis Pavlidis converted a penalty for the hosts.

The defeat sends the 15-time Champions League winners into the play-off round, where they must attempt to salvage their European campaign.

“Of course we are far from happy. Quite the contrary,” Arbeloa said. “In a match where we knew what was at stake, we simply didn’t rise to the occasion.

“I’d like to tell you that it was just one thing that led to this defeat, but I think there were many aspects – adversity in duels, issues with the ball and without the ball. We were a long way from the version of ourselves that we should be.”

Addressing the red cards, Arbeloa said tensions boiled over.

“Sometimes these are situations where you can’t control your emotions, knowing what was at stake. That’s all there is to it,” he insisted.

Mbappe added: “The problem is we aren’t consistent in our play, we have to fix that, you can’t have one day (playing well) and another not, a champion team does not do that.

“We deserve to be in this situation today, Benfica were better, now we have to play two more play-off games.

“It hurts to have to play those, we wanted to have the time in February to work on our game.”

For Mourinho, the victory was as much a boost for the club’s stature as it was for their Champions League prospects.

Arbeloa must now prepare his side for the play-offs as he attempts to get Real’s season back on track after former coach Xabi Alonso’s sacking and the team being

knocked out of the Spanish Cup last-16 by second-tier Albacete on Jan 14

. REUTERS, AFP