Heart, soul and the sweet taste of qualification

After a 3-3 draw on Tuesday, February 18, at the Estádio da Luz, in the second leg of the Champions League knockout stage play-off, Benfica overcame Monaco with a 4-3 aggregate result (in the first leg, they won 0-1) and secured their passage to the last 16 of the competition, where they will face Barcelona or Liverpool (the draw is on Friday).

Bruno Lage made six changes to the starting eleven for this match, compared to the previous game (a 0-1 win against Santa Clara on matchday 22 of the Liga Betclic): Tomás Araújo, Aursnes, Kökcü, Aktürkoğlu, Schjelderup and Pavlidis replaced Leandro Santos, Florentino, Dahl, Bruma, Amdouni and Belotti.

Trubin, Tomás Araújo, António Silva, Otamendi, Álvaro Carreras, Aursnes, Barreiro, Kökcü, Aktürkoğlu, Schjelderup e Pavlidis. The Reds' team that started the game against the Monegasques was made up of Trubin, Tomás Araújo, António Silva, Otamendi, Álvaro Carreras, Aursnes, Barreiro, Kökcü, Aktürkoğlu, Schjelderup and Pavlidis. 

In the 22nd minute, Benfica took the lead. Aggressive in his pressing, Barreiro won the ball in the attacking third, with the ball falling to Pavlidis. The Greek international entered the area from the left, outpaced Kehrer with class and crossed low to the far post, where Aktürkoğlu put the ball in the back of the net (1-0).

Monaco completed the comeback and leveled the tie in the 51st minute through a team effort in which Akliouche combined with Diatta, went up the right and set up Ben Seghir in the area, who finished with a well-placed shot (1-2). 

From the penalty spot, in the 76th minute, Pavlidis didn't miss, firing into the right side of the net (2-2). This was the Greek international's 7th goal in the competition, and he has scored in his last four appearances in the competition (against Barcelona, Juventus and, twice, Monaco), making him Benfica's top scorer in the competition, as well as 5th among all players (tied with Kane and Vinícius Júnior).

However, the away side restored the tie five minutes later (81'). Taking advantage of another ball forward, Ilenikhena raced into the box and fired home to make it 2-3.

In a game of stop and go, the Eagles scored the decisive goal after 84 minutes. Amdouni won the ball in attack, passed to Álvaro Carreras on the left, and he crossed to the near post. With a subtle touch in the penalty area, Kökcü - who received the Player of the Match award - deflected the ball out of Majecki's reach. The ball still hit the post on its way into the net (3-3), to huge cheers in the Cathedral, colored by 60,776 spectators.