Champions League Takeaway: Vini Buries Benfica, Brave Juve Fall Short, Atalanta Turn It Round & PSG Eke Monaco...Just

Hello Rank Squad! It's the second Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Wednesday's action from the Second Legs of the Playoff Round of the competitions - where the final four teams booked their spots in the Round of 16. It was an emotional night at the Bernabeu, where despite a somewhat lethargic performance from Real Madrid, it felt fitting that it was Vinicius Jr who dropped the dagger on Benfica before celebrating heartily as he guided Los Blancos to the Last 16.  It wasn't great from reigning champions PSG either, who saw off fellow Ligue 1 side Monaco with a 2-2 draw to extend their first leg advantage, although again it was Monaco who took the advantage and the initiative, before losing it after a red card early in the second half - a familiar tale from last week. PSG allowed nervy moments at the end where they didn't need to, and they will need to significantly improve to stand any chance of retaining their crown.  In Part Two we head to Italy - first to Turin, where Juventus did recover a three goal disadvantage against Galatasaray despite being reduced to 10 men when Lloyd Kelly received a very harsh red card, but where fatigue finally set in and allowed Gala to kill the tie in extra time; and also to Bergamo, where Atalanta booked their space as the only Serie A team in the Last 16 with a very impressive comeback win over a weirdly lacklustre Borussia Dortmund.  It's Ranks!  And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.