Actual Madrid secured a spot within the quarter-final of the UEFA Champions League, due to a win over Atletico Madrid in a penalty shootout following the conclusion of their second leg assembly within the spherical of 16 of the competitors.
Los Blancos went to the Wanda Metropolitano with however Wednesday’s hosts wanted lower than half a minute to tug issues stage after a fast begin to proceedings noticed Conor Gallagher poke house from shut vary to make it 2-2 on combination.
After Atletico took the lead, they did not make their house benefit depend and had been completely satisfied to take a seat again deep in their very own half because the visiting aspect dominated possession throughout each durations. Although Diego Simeone’s males had a couple of counter-attacks go their manner, Madrid defended them nicely as a rule however did not create any noteworthy alternatives of their very own.
Within the seventieth minute, Madrid’s largest likelihood of the match got here as Kylian Mbappe was tumbled contained in the field by Clement Lenglet after a fast break. Vinicius Junior might have made issues stage from the penalty spot on the night time and put Actual again in entrance on combination, however the stress acquired the higher of the Brazilian, who blazed his spot-kick excessive and horribly mistaken.
Additional time adopted and the half hour added on was additionally a good affair, though Madrid’s management on proceedings grew exponentially whereas an end-to-end couple of durations meant they’d much more room to assault Atletico, though that additionally was to no avail.
An exhilarating penalty shootout adopted, which Kylian Mbappe opened coolly by stroking the ball previous Jan Oblak and Atletico Madrid responded simply as nicely via Alexander Sorloth. As soon as extra, Madrid had been in entrance via Jude Bellingham and up got here Julian Alvarez for Atletico, whose penalty led to controversy.
Though the previous Manchester Metropolis star discovered the again of the web, VAR overruled it as a consequence of him making contact with the ball twice, an incident of which Actual Madrid took full benefit as Federico Valverde put them 3-1 up within the shootout. Atleti weren’t down and out simply but, nonetheless, as Angel Correa managed to get his shot previous Thibaut Courtois, despite the Belgian getting a agency hand on the ball.
Lucas Vazquez had the prospect to make it 4-2 to Madrid after Correa had scored for the hosts however a tame effort by the Spaniard was simply saved by Oblak. Marcos Llorente had the prospect to make it 3-3 subsequent however smashed his penalty onto the crossbar, leaving Antonio Rudiger with the prospect to win the tie.
The German stepped up and put his penalty previous Oblak to ship Madrid into the final eight. It was the second season in a row that Rudiger had determined a European Cup tie for the Whites after his successful kick versus Manchester Metropolis within the quarter-final of the 2023/24 version on the Etihad Stadium.
For a lot of the second leg, Actual Madrid had been put underneath super stress by Atletico Madrid however throughout the grand scheme of issues, the 15-time Champions League winners deserved to undergo and proceed their defence of the trophy they received at Wembley Stadium in June final yr.
Carlo Ancelotti’s males tackle Villarreal subsequent in La Liga, whereas their upcoming European opponents are Arsenal, who they face on April eighth and April sixteenth. The primary leg will likely be away from house on the Emirates Stadium and will likely be a fixture that Aurelien Tchouameni misses after his yellow card this time round.