Sports

Benfica to face Real Madrid in Champions League play-offs after dramatic encounter

BBC 30th January, 2026 08:17 PM

Real Madrid during a past match. PHOTO/@realmadrid/X

Benfica will face Real Madrid in the Champions League play-offs just three weeks after their dramatic league phase encounter.

On Wednesday, January 28, 2026, goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin’s 98th-minute goal earned Jose Mourinho’s side a 4-2 win against the Spanish giants.

Newcastle will play Qarabag after finishing the league phase in 12th place, while defending champions Paris St-Germain, who finished 11th, will face Ligue 1 rivals Monaco.

The two-legged play-offs are for teams who finished between 9th and 24th in the league phase, and the first games will take place on February 17, 2026, and February 18, 2026, with the second round one week later.

Benfica during a past match. PHOTO/@SLBenfica/X

The Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, will host the 2025-26 final on May 30, 2026.

Qarabag finished 22nd in the league phase after winning three, drawing one and losing four of their matches.

They were defeated 6-0 against Liverpool at Anfield in their final outing and have not beaten a Premier League team in nine previous attempts.

The Azerbaijan champions avoided defeat for the first time against an English club when drawing 2-2 with Chelsea in November.

The winner of the tie between Newcastle and Qarabag will face either Chelsea or Barcelona in the last 16.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham all finished in the top eight of the league phase and have qualified automatically for the last 16.

The draw for the last 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final all take place on 27 February.