Anatoliy Trubin scored a last-minute winner against Real Madrid to clinch qualification into the knockout play-offs of the Champions League for Benfica on Wednesday evening. Despite sitting 3-2 up against the La Liga titans in a shocking turn of events, Benfica required another goal to avoid exit from Europe’s premier footballing competition – tied with Marseille on a goal difference of minus three but behind in terms of away goals.

It was a case of last-chance saloon 98 minutes into stoppage time, as Fredrik Aursnes stepped up to take a free-kick midway in Madrid’s half after he was brought down by Jude Bellingham. The instructions from Jose Mourinho were clear, as he directed his players into the opposition box from the sidelines, including goalkeeper Trubin. In a wild turn of affairs, the shot-stopper leapt the highest in the box as Aursnes delivered the ball with precision, meeting it with his head past a floundering Thibaut Cortouis and into the back of the net.

The Estadio da Luz erupted as the Ukrainian wheeled off in celebration, as his team-mates both on and off the pitch piled in on him in jubilation. Mourinho, meanwhile, was spotted pumping his fist with passion from the dugout as he was embraced by his coaching staff.

Trubin’s effort came as the final act of the match, as Real Madrid players marched off the pitch in disappointment – slipping to ninth in the Champions League standings as a result of the loss and also forced to participate in a play-off match to make the round of 16. It was a tough night at the office for Los Blancos, despite the La Liga giants taking the lead early doors.

Kylian Mbappe opened the scoring 30 minutes into the match, before Andreas Schjelderup levelled matters six minutes later. Vangelis Pavlidis then gave the hosts the lead on the stroke of half-time with a coolly-converted penalty, but Madrid showed fight as they looked to secure a top eight spot in the UCL.

Schjelderup bagged his brace for the evening around 10 minutes after the restart, before Mbappe registed his second of the evening to keep the deficit at one goal. Things took a turn for the worst for Madrid in stoppage time, however.

Raul Asencio was shown an early exit as a result of picking up a second yellow card two minutes into the allocated extra time, before Rodrygo suffered a similar fate a minute before Trubin’s showstopping header at the death. Thanks to the 4-2 win, Benfice moved up to 24th in the Champions League standings, while Roberto De Zerbi’s Marseille were evicted from the competition alongside 11 other teams.