Unsightly pictures in Madrid
After a clash with police: fans receive treatment
02/26/2026 – 7:16 a.mReading time: 1 min.
The Champions League second leg between Real Madrid and Benfica took place on Wednesday evening. There have been unpleasant scenes in the city before.
The duel between Real Madrid and Benfica Lisbon on Wednesday evening was much less noisy than the first leg, in the aftermath of which there was particular talk of possible racist comments by Gianluca Prestianni towards Vinícius Júnior. But there were still some unpleasant pictures, as Benfica fans clashed with the Spanish police in the city center.
Videos from Spanish and Portuguese TV channels show how the Benfica supporters are initially accompanied by law enforcement officers on the way to the stadium before individual police officers suddenly hit fans with clubs. “We were walking forward, suddenly they came towards us,” one follower reported, according to A Bola.
The recordings also show that medical staff are caring for individual people, some of whom are lying on the ground, in the midst of the tumult. A sequence in which a child is taken out of the crowd is particularly frightening. The little Benfica supporter is visibly affected by what is happening around him.
“I hope he doesn’t suffer any trauma,” said the shocked father on the Portuguese TV station CMTV. He followed up with critical words towards the Spanish police: “I didn’t understand why the police acted so harshly. From one moment to the next they started beating everyone.”
Local authorities have not yet commented on the incident. It is also unclear how many people were injured.
