The Champions League has regularly provided us with the beautiful game’s most heavenly highs, but yesterday in Lisbon we saw football’s dark underbelly loudly exposed. Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior will forever be remembered as a generational force both on and off the pitch. Throughout his career, he’s relentlessly confronted the uncomfortable and unwanted presence of racism in football, and yesterday the world watched as he reported Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni’s alleged racist remarks to referee Francois Letexier. The chaos that then unfolded – and José Mourinho’s post-match comments – only emboldened an archaic narrative on an issue that is tragically still prevalent in 2026.

As for today, Eddie Howe’s Newcastle are having a mood-swing season, but were unlucky to miss out on automatic UCL qualification after drawing away against holders PSG last month. While there are no cheat codes for the UCL playoffs, Qarabağ FK offer a favorable draw, so if the Magpies can escape Azerbaijan relatively untarnished, the St. James return leg should carry them to the last 16 for the first time since 2003. 🐦‍⬛

ii. Yesterday saw notable performances from two USMNT players as well, with Monaco’s Flo Balogun scoring inside the first minute in their loss to French kings, PSG. He added a second goal to give him five total in this year’s Champions League, which is now the most any U.S. international has scored in a single UCL season.

Juventus’ Weston McKennie also continued his scorching hot run of form with a beautiful assist in his team’s bludgeoning at the hands of Turkish champions, Galatasaray. Better luck next week, lads. 🇺🇸

iii. If yesterday’s chaos has you reflecting on José Mourinho’s time as “The Special One,” or if you’d like to learn more about today’s Cinderella side, Qarabağ, let Rog and Rory Smith walk you through some of this week’s biggest UCL storylines. Listen to the episode or watch it here. 🗣️

iv. ICYMI from over the weekend: RIP to the legend, Robert Duvall. Honor him by savoring three minutes of his 1990s football punditry. 🙏

v. And if you’re ready for a quick field trip to England’s fifth-tier, please enjoy what might just be the strangest penalty in recent memory. 🤯

Cheers,
Tommy Stewart & Max Bonem

PS - Also, if someone could please explain the physics behind this recent freak injury in the Emir Cup to us, we’d be eternally grateful. 🤸

Benfica 🇵🇹 0-1 Real Madrid 🇪🇸

What should have been an intoxicating sequel of the cinematic classic these two put on three weeks ago was overshadowed by an ugly incident of alleged racism from Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni towards Vinícius Júnior. After the Real Madrid Galáctico whipped in a 50th-minute worldie, he duly celebrated with a corner flag dance that was met with boos and bottles thrown at the Los Blancos star.

The Benfica fans saw red and Viní saw yellow, while Prestianni hid his lips behind his shirt (a tell if there ever was one) to deliver the purported racist remark that stopped the game for 10 minutes and caused an inferno of angry confusion. For the rest of the match, whenever Viní or teammate Kylian Mbappé had the ball, Lisbon’s Estádio da Luz drenched them in a shower of whistles and abuse. After inserting himself into that situation, José Mourinho was later sent off for some typical histrionics, meaning he’ll be sidelined for his fabled Bernabéu return.

More: Powerful words from Thierry Henry in the wake of yesterday’s ugly scene in the Portuguese capital.

Monaco 🇫🇷 2-3 PSG 🇫🇷

Flo Balogun made a bold claim for Mauricio Pochettino’s USMNT No 9 spot with a quality quick-fire brace that seemed to have sunk UCL champs PSG within 18 minutes. But replacing injured Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé with Désiré Doué midway through the first half was like substituting a great white shark with a younger great white shark. With his first involvement in the game, the 20-year-old casually scored before causing the chaos that provided Achraf Hakimi’s equalizer just before halftime. Monaco went down to 10 men soon thereafter, essentially allowing the young apex predator to pick off the home side with a winner 20 minutes later. While Dembélé’s injury woes continue, this felt like a significant changing of the guard moment in a French civil war that resumes in Paris next week.

Galatasaray 🇹🇷 5-2 Juventus 🇮🇹

When Juventus quickly recovered an early 1-0 deficit to go 2-1 up via a Teun Koopmeiners brace in a football stadium lovingly pet-named “Hell” by its residents, Luciano Spalletti was probably ready to forget his team’s very raw Derby d’Italia heartache. But Hell hath no fury like a Galatasaray side scorned, and with a Noa Lang sucker punch minutes into the second half, the Italian side’s capitulation unfolded. Not long after Davinson Sánchez put the Istanbul side ahead, Juve substitute Juan Cabal was sent off, which was perhaps an act of mercy from the referee based on the nightmare 22 minutes he spent on the pitch. That was a second red in five days for Spalletti’s side and it allowed Okan Buruk’s men to put them to the sword as Lang completed his double and Sacha Boey emphatically confirmed the kill.

Borussia Dortmund 🇩🇪 2-0 Atalanta 🇮🇹

Serhou Guirassy had the yellow wall bouncing last night with a towering headed finish and a solo assist that takes him to 22 goal contributions on the season so far. The 29-year-old Guinea striker surely sits at the elite-tier table of forwards in European football, and in a dry landscape of world class No 9s, the Premier League’s big boys will be on high alert. After the match, Atalanta manager Raffaele Palladino said it’s “only halftime” in the tie, and with his side undefeated in nine on Italian soil, Bergamo’s New Balance Arena is a daunting destination, even for Niko Kovač’s in-form Dortmund.

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Qarabağ 🇦🇿 vs. Newcastle 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (TODAY, 12:45 p.m. ET, Paramount+)

Since winning Saturday’s thriller at Villa Park, Eddie Howe’s men must feel invincible as they traverse 2,529 miles to Qarabağ – the longest journey an English side has ever embarked on in the UCL. Anthony Gordon unabashedly prefers European to domestic football, and it shows: he’s the tournament’s fourth top scorer, bagging six in eight UCL games compared to three in 20 in the Prem. However, this one could actually be close: Qarabağ have scored two or more goals in their last six Champions League matches at their Azersun Arena, while Newcastle have only won two of their last 15 UEFA away matches.

Bodø/Glimt 🇳🇴 vs. Inter Milan 🇮🇹 (TODAY, 3 p.m. ET, Paramount+)

By replacing Simone Inzaghi with Cristian Chivu, Inter Milan have emerged from the trauma of last season’s Champions League final humiliation smelling of roses. But the Serie A leaders must pick themselves up quickly for a voyage to a plastic pitch in the Arctic Circle after narrowly edging a battle for the ages with Juventus on Saturday night. Norway’s Bodø/Glimt have slain giants Manchester City and Atlético Madrid on their way to a first-ever UCL knockout phase, but Inter are a different animal having reached two of the last three finals.

Club Brugge 🇧🇪 vs. Atlético Madrid 🇪🇸 (TODAY, 3 p.m. ET, Paramount+)

Diego Simeone’s war dogs have been on batshit form of late, conquering Barcelona 4-0 in the Copa del Rey last week before falling 3-0 to humble neighbors Rayo Vallecano on Sunday, so Club Brugge could be in luck. They’re currently third in the Belgian Pro League and after four UEFA meetings are unbeaten at home against Atleti, who have ominously lost four of their last six UCL knockout ties.

Olympiacos 🇬🇷 vs. Bayer Leverkusen 🇩🇪 (TODAY, 3 p.m. ET, Paramount+)

Disney bad guy, and Nottingham Forest owner, Evangelos Marinakas will have one eye on his Grecian side quest today, as Olympiacos welcome back Bayer Leverkusen, who they beat 2-0 in the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium just over a month ago. Alejandro Grimaldo has scored in three of Leverkusen’s last four UCL matches, so the Spanish left wing-back will be key if the German side are to bury that recent Greek tragedy.

This week, we want to know who’s the missing left-back from Manchester City’s 4-3 first-leg win over Real Madrid in the 2022 Champions League semi-final?

Email us (or reply to this newsletter) with your answer for a chance to win a much-coveted MiB patch!

Our last winner: Congratulations to Paul Sharman, who was the first to correctly answer that James Milner was the missing midfielder from Liverpool’s legendary 4-0 second-leg comeback win against Barcelona in the 2019 UCL semi-final. Get in touch and we’ll send your patch in the post, Paul! 📮

👋 We’ll see you again tomorrow. In the meantime, keep sending your stories and questions to [email protected].

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