With the winning goal and another dance by the corner flag, Vinícius Junior had the final say in a tense rematch against Benfica on Wednesday, sending Real Madrid to the Champions League round of 16.
Vinícius, who played a week after being the target of alleged racist insults in the first leg against Benfica, sealed Madrid's 2-1 victory over the Portuguese side — and a 3-1 aggregate win — by scoring the Merengues' second goal in the 80th minute at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium.
The Brazilian superstar celebrated his goal just as he did a week earlier: by dancing by the corner flag.
Benfica opened the scoring in the 15th minute through Rafa Silva after a rebound in front of the goal to briefly level the tie 1-1 on aggregate, but Aurélien Tchouaméni equalized two minutes later with a superb first-time right-footed strike from the edge of the area after being assisted by Federico Valverde.
Madrid held a 1-0 lead over Benfica from the first leg last week, which was overshadowed by Vinícius' accusation that opponent Gianluca Prestianni called him a 'monkey' after the Brazilian forward scored.
Prestianni denied racially abusing Vinícius while confronting him with his shirt covering his mouth, but he was unable to play after being provisionally suspended for one match by UEFA.
