Video: Benfica keeper Anatoliy Trubin scores last-second header to avoid Champions League elimination in 4-2 win over Real Madrid

Benfica were on the brink of elimination from the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League, needing a two-goal victory against Real Madrid to survive. In the final play of the match, goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin became the unlikely hero, rising for a dramatic header to secure a playoff spot.

After five losses and just two wins in their first seven matches, Benfica entered the night in a precarious position, needing both three points and a significant goal-difference swing to climb into the top 24. The situation worsened early, as Kylian Mbappé opened the scoring with a record-breaking Champions League goal.

Spurred on by the home crowd, Benfica responded through Andreas Schjelderup’s equalizer in the 36th minute, before Vangelis Pavlidis completed the turnaround from the penalty spot in first-half stoppage time. Schjelderup added his second in the 54th minute, but Mbappé pulled one back four minutes later to make it 3-2.

With Bodø/Glimt’s stunning 2-1 win away at Atlético Madrid, Benfica still needed to surpass Olympique Marseille, who sat 24th on nine points with a minus-three goal difference. That left the Portuguese side requiring one more goal to avoid elimination.

Despite only five minutes of added time, a foul by Jude Bellingham on Fredrik Aursnes in the 97th minute gave Benfica one final opportunity. At José Mourinho’s urging, Trubin joined the attack, and on Aursnes’ delivery, the Ukrainian goalkeeper powered home the decisive header in the dying seconds.

Moments earlier, Trubin had absorbed a Real Madrid shot to the chest, briefly slowing play as Benfica desperately chased one final goal. As club legend and president Rui Costa and the Benfica board erupted in the stands, the goalkeeper etched his name into one of the club’s most dramatic European moments in recent years.

Benfica stun Real Madrid, drop them into Champions League playoff zone

With the league phase of the UEFA Champions League now complete, Benfica claimed the final playoff spot with their stunning victory. The result also came at Real Madrid’s expense, knocking the Spanish giants out of the top eight.

Entering Matchday 8 in third place, Real Madrid needed a win to secure direct qualification or a draw paired with favorable results elsewhere. Instead, Benfica’s 4–2 win, combined with Manchester City finishing eighth on 16 points, dropped Los Blancos to ninth, forcing them into the playoff round rather than a direct berth in the Round of 16.