{"id":23361,"date":"2026-02-17T08:53:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T08:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/17\/champions-league-play-offs-benfica-and-real-madrid-reunite-psg-face-monaco\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T08:53:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T08:53:23","slug":"champions-league-play-offs-benfica-and-real-madrid-reunite-psg-face-monaco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/17\/champions-league-play-offs-benfica-and-real-madrid-reunite-psg-face-monaco\/","title":{"rendered":"Champions League play-offs: Benfica and Real Madrid reunite, PSG face Monaco"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>LONDON (AP) \u2014 Real Madrid and Benfica will do it all over again on Tuesday after an epic record. <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">champions league showdown<\/span> last month. <\/p>\n<p>a <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">4-2 victory<\/span> The final game of the league, Benfica vs. Madrid, had one of the most dramatic endings in the history of the competition. <\/p>\n<p>a <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">Goal late in stoppage time<\/span> Goalkeeper Anatoly Trubin&#8217;s goal sealed Benfica&#8217;s place in the playoffs. Meanwhile, Madrid&#8217;s defeat meant the record 15-time European champions missed out on automatic qualification to the Round of 16. <\/p>\n<p>The driving force behind Benfica&#8217;s victory was former Madrid manager Jose Mourinho. <\/p>\n<p>Now he has the chance to inflict more pain on his old club in the first leg of the play-off series at Benfica&#8217;s Stadium of Light. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think it will take a miracle for Benfica to eliminate Real Madrid,&#8221; Mourinho said, but admitted his side would need to be in near-perfect form to progress. <\/p>\n<p>Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain will face Monaco in the playoffs on Tuesday. Galatasaray will host Juventus, while Borussia Dortmund will play Atalanta at home. <\/p>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>AP Soccer: <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/soccer<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/champions-league-playoffs-real-madrid-psg-be2f9c2e2b8f9145d995b41e0a95c26c\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LONDON (AP) \u2014 Real Madrid and Benfica will do it all over again on Tuesday after an epic record. champions league showdown last month. a 4-2 victory The final game of the league, Benfica vs. Madrid, had one of the most dramatic endings in the history of the competition. a Goal late in stoppage time<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21974,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23361","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Champions League play-offs: Benfica and Real Madrid reunite, PSG face Monaco - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; 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