No one could have imagined that the dramatic scenes and the ending of the Champions League stage, after a crazy night, would perhaps not be forgotten in the history of the competition, especially in the match between Benfica and Real Madrid, which witnessed the last moments of madness, after it led Benfica to the playoffs of the knockout rounds, and kept Real Madrid away from direct qualification.
Benfica goalkeeper Anatoly Trubin appeared in the guise of a superhero, when he scored his team’s fourth goal against Real Madrid, which secured it a place in the playoffs, after it had been outside the tournament a few seconds earlier.
Thanks to his heroic role and historical moment, many will become familiar with Trubin’s name after this match. There is nothing in football that compares to the moment of a last-minute goal scored by a goalkeeper, not only that, but also to lead his team towards qualifying for Hitchcock, and against the giant Real Madrid.
After Benfica, led by Jose Mourinho, was 3-2 ahead of Real Madrid, and although this result was enough to prevent the royal team from entering the top eight and qualifying directly to the round of 16, it was not enough to guarantee the Portuguese team’s survival in the tournament, and here came the role of goalkeeper Anatoly Trubin, who many may not have known before this goal.
The 24-year-old goalkeeper was given permission to advance to take part in the free kick, by order of Mourinho, and amazingly, the Ukrainian goalkeeper rose and put his head on the ball, turning it into the net, to keep his team in the competition and send it to 24th place on goal difference behind Marseille.
Tropin is considered one of the highest-rated young goalkeepers in the world of football, as Benfica signed him in 2023, coming from Shakhtar Donetsk, for 10 million euros, but his market value has risen significantly since then, as his current value stands at 28 million euros, making him the tenth most valuable goalkeeper in the world.
Tropin is also considered the third most valuable goalkeeper in the world aged 24 years or younger, behind Bart Verbruggen (23 years old – 35 million euros) and Lucas Chevalier (24 years old – 35 million euros). He is 1.99 meters tall, a factor that had a clear impact against Real Madrid.
With his legendary goal against Real Madrid, Tropin became only the fifth goalkeeper to score in the Champions League since the tournament was restructured in the 1992/93 season, joining a list that includes Hans-Jorg Bott, Sinan Bulat, Vincent Enyeama and Ivan Provedel.
After the match, Benfica coach Jose Mourinho praised his young goalkeeper and his historic goal, stressing that he knew he was capable of doing that, which prompted him to direct him to advance to the penalty area on the free kick, in order to help the team, and that he also almost scored a goal for Benfica against Porto weeks ago.
In the qualifying round of 16, Benfica will face either Real Madrid again, or the runner-up of the last edition, Inter Milan, as it is certain that any team will follow Tropin closely if he decides to advance again on set pieces.
