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Real Madrid Refocuses on La Liga After Stunning Loss to Benfica

Real Madrid's loss to Benfica ended their automatic Champions League round of 16 qualification; players and coach cited poor focus and attitude as key factors.

  • A stoppage-time goal by Anatoliy Trubin sealed Benfica's 4-2 win at Lisbon, eliminating Madrid from Champions League top eight.
  • Players and staff admitted a poor attitude undermined Real Madrid's performance, with Álvaro Arbeloa saying he failed to convey the game's importance and Kylian Mbappé noting Benfica played for their lives.
  • Kylian Mbappé scored both Madrid goals on Wednesday, taking his Champions League-leading tally to 13, and said the defeat was deserved due to performance lapses.
  • A day later, Real Madrid turns attention to domestic competition, hosting city rival Rayo Vallecano on Sunday with possible returns for Antonio Rüdiger and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
  • In the broader picture, Champions League and La Liga results are tightly linked this week as Barcelona secured a top-eight spot by beating Copenhagen 4-1 and Madrid's five-match winning streak narrows the La Liga title race to one point.
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MADRID.- Kylian Mbappé offered a tough self-criticism after the defeat of Real Madrid 4-2 against Benfica in the Champions League, a result that left the team out of the direct standings to eighths and that will force the club to play an extra round of playoffs. Despite having scored two more goals in the tournament, Mbappé was clear by pointing out that the difference in performance was not in quality or tactics, but in the desire and attitude …

·Stamford, United States
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Real Madrid refocuses on La Liga after stunning loss to Benfica

Real Madrid returns its focus to La Liga knowing that it needs to improve a day after a stunning last-minute loss to Benfica in the Champions League.

·United States
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Real Madrid's hard defeat against Benfica at Estadio da Luz once again left very bad feelings among Madrid.

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On the stage of El Chiringuito, journalist Edu Aguirre put forward the performance of three players, but severely criticized the rest of the squad. Real Madrid fell into the Champions League yesterday, in a very sad way. A 4-2 setback on the Benfica lawn that excluded him from the European top 8 and [...]

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emisorasunidas.com broke the news in on Wednesday, January 28, 2026.
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