Benfica was winning the match, but they weren't yet through. They needed to defeat Real Madrid by two goals to advance to the Champions League playoff round.
Jose Mourinho's side earned a late free kick, and it was time to throw everything, and everyone, at it.
The goalkeeper, Anatoliy Trubin, trotted up from the back. The 6-foot-6 Ukrainian does his best work keeping the ball out of the net, but his tall frame was a worthwhile body to send into the box in the dying embers.
And wouldn't you know it? The ball hooked right toward Trubin, the moment of a lifetime for a goalkeeper.
With a leap and a flick of the neck, Trubin had done it.
Goalie goal.
A 4-2 win.
The necessary goal difference.
A miracle for Mourinho's men to advance in the Champions League.
Amazing and Epic victory for Benfica against Real Madrid in the very last second of the game.
— TomRourke (@tomrourkex) January 28, 2026
Trubin, the heroic goalkeeper, scores the goal that sends Benfica through to the Champions League playoff. #benfica#realmadrid#Champions #ChampionsLeague2026 pic.twitter.com/u30uhf0vjd
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Real Madrid was already going through to the playoff round. A draw for Los Blancos would've sent them straight through to the Round of 16, but a couple of red cards prevented them from reaching that.
Instead, they were just the background character on a night that was all Benfica's.
In the new Champions League format, teams 9 through 24 in the league phase table advance to the playoff round, and then eight winners there go on to the Round of 16 to take on the 1-8 finishers from the league phase.
Benfica entered the day with 6 points and needed to at least get to 9 to have a shot at the 24th and final spot.
A one-goal win would've had them tied with Marseille for 24th, except the French club would've advanced by having more goals for and an equal -3 goal differential.
The Trubin goal made Benfica's goal difference a superior -2. And the Portuguese club, coached by the legendary Mourinho, moves on.
You really can't predict sports. A match that Real Madrid needed should've been no problem for the Spanish superpower.
But then all of a sudden Benfica had a chance, and then more of a chance, and then a floated ball toward the penalty spot, and a leaping goalkeeper turned striker, and a goal he and his teammates and fans will never forget.
Magic, Mourinho and moving on.
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