Real Madrid through to Champions League quarter-finals

Real Madrid have booked their place in the Champions League quarter-finals after a penalty shoot-out victory over Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano, with tie ending 2-2 on aggregate after the hosts won 1-0 after 120 minutes.

Atleti needed to overcome the one-goal deficit from last week’s first leg to give themselves a chance of progression, and they wiped that out inside the first minute. It took exactly 27 seconds for Diego Simeone’s side to score, with the goal coming from Conor Gallagher. The English midfielder met a cross from Rodrigo De Paul, and from close range, he fired past Thibaut Courtois in the Real Madrid net.

Real Madrid managed to regroup quickly after that moment, although they struggled to fashion any clear cut chances during the remaining minutes in the first half. Neither did Atleti, although they were happy to sit off their city rivals after the early goal.

The second half also saw very few changes, but Real Madrid had a huge one to secure progression – which they wasted. On the 70th minute, they were awarded a penalty when Clement Lenglet pulled back Kylian Mbappe as he was about to hit a strike towards goal, with referee Szymon Marciniak having no doubt to point to the spot. Vinicius Junior stepped up, and he blazed his effort from 12 yards high and wide.

In the end, there were no more goals during regulation time, which meant that extra time was needed at the Metropolitano. Both teams tried to find a winner during the additional 30 minutes, but as expected, they cancelled each other out, which meant that penalties were needed.

There was major controversy during the shoot-out as Julian Alvarez’s effort, which was scored, was ruled to have been touched twice, which meant that it was annulled. That gave Real Madrid an advantage, and despite Lucas Vazquez missing, Marcos Llorente did so too to allow Antonio Rudiger to score the winning penalty.

It means that Real Madrid will face Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-finals, while Atleti must wait for another year for their first success in the competition.