VINICIUS Jr scored as Real Madrid secured their place in the last 16 of the Champions League with victory over Benfica at the Bernabeu.
The forward had been the centre of focus in the build-up to the game, having alleged he was racially abused by Gianluca Prestianni shortly after scoring the only goal in the first leg.
Prestianni was subsequently handed a one-match ban, meaning he missed Wednesday’s return leg, while support was shown for Vinicius Jr by the home fans as a banner with the words “no to racism” in Spanish was displayed in the stands before kick-off.
Vinicius Jr then ensured football was the focus during the game as he scored the winner, driving a clinical finish across the goalkeeper with 10 minutes to go to wrap up a 3-1 victory on aggregate.
Benfica, to their credit, had put up plenty of fight before then and had taken the lead in the 14th minute when Rafa Silva turned in a loose ball after Thibaut Courtois had prevented Raúl Asencio’s attempted clearance from going into his own net.
That lead lasted just two minutes, however, as Aurelien Tchouameni curled home a fine strike from the edge of the box for his first Champions League goal.
Real were without the injured Kylian Mbappe and they missed his talent in attack, as Benfica instead looked a threat to score again and level up the tie on aggregate.
But Vinicius Jr continued his excellent recent form with his sixth goal in five games to ensure Real Madrid can look forward to facing either Manchester City or Sporting in the last 16.
