Real Madrid produced a gritty display to reach the Champions League quarterfinals with a 4-2 win on penalties against rivals Atletico Madrid, following a 1-0 defeat after extra time on Wednesday (Mar 12).
Atletico Madrid's Julian Alvarez had a penalty dramatically ruled out in the shootout as Real Madrid edged out their city rivals to reach the quarter-finals.
They will face Arsenal in the last eight, having kept alive their hopes of winning a record-extending 16th UEFA Champions League trophy.
Neither side could find a winning goal before the end of extra time after Conor Gallagher's strike – just 27 seconds into the game – had levelled the tie on aggregate after Real's 2-1 first-leg win.
That meant penalties were needed to determine the outcome and, after the first three had been converted, forward Alvarez stepped up to take Atletico's second. He slipped while taking it, but the ball ended up in the back of the net. While it was initially given, the successful spot-kick was subsequently ruled out by the video assistant referee (VAR), with Alvarez having been deemed to have touched the ball twice as he struck his effort.
Federico Valverde converted his penalty to put Real 3-1 ahead and although Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak saved Lucas Vazquez's spot-kick to briefly give Atletico hope, Marcos Llorente hit the bar. Antonio Rudiger then stepped up to squeeze home the decisive penalty to send Real through by a 4-2 margin.
