Real Madrid win wild shootout to eliminate Atletico from UCL once again
Antonio Rudiger's penalty kick squeaked past Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak to seal a dramatic 4-2 shootout win for Real Madrid in an epic Champions League last-16 encounter between historic city rivals at a raucous Metropolitano on Wednesday.
It's the fifth time in 11 years that Madrid have eliminated Atletico from the Champions League.
Los Blancos have won all six of their shootouts against Los Rojiblancos, including in the 2015-16 Champions League final.
Arsenal will be the next team that tries to dethrone the 15-time European champions. The Gunners will host the first leg at the Emirates on April 8.
Julian Alvarez thought he had tied the shootout at 2-2 with a strike into the upper netting, but the VAR canceled out the Argentine's penalty after Madrid's vocal protests, ruling he had touched the ball twice as he slipped on the spot.
In normal time, a penalty taker who touches the ball twice would end up conceding a free-kick to the opposing team. That doesn't apply in a shootout, and a retake isn't an option.
Oblak gave Atletico a second wind by turning away Lucas Vazquez's effort, but Marcos Llorente's follow-up for the hosts struck the bar, leaving Rudiger to finish off a wild sequence of events.
"It hurts. I think we played a great match, but unfortunately we lacked a bit of luck," Oblak told Movistar. "The truth is that one feels pain. It hurts a lot."
Conor Gallagher's opportunistic first-minute opener Wednesday gave Atletico a 1-0 lead that leveled the tie 2-2 on aggregate.
Vinicius Junior wasted a chance to win it before extra time, skying his penalty attempt in the 70th minute.
Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti took off Vinicius with minutes remaining in extra time, denying him an opportunity to redeem himself in the shootout.
It didn't matter in the end.
Madrid took a 2-1 advantage into the second leg thanks to goals from Rodrygo and Brahim Diaz at the Santiago Bernabeu last Tuesday. Alvarez's stunning away goal gave Atletico an important building block.
Gallagher was a substitute a week ago but made an instant impact as a starter Wednesday, cleaning up Alvarez's wayward touch with a sweeping finish from close range.
Atletico's resolute defense held firm until Kylian Mbappe raced into space and drew contact from Clement Lenglet in the penalty area. But Vinicius curled the potential tie-clinching spot-kick high and wide.
"We came out as if it was already won and in the first move they scored a goal against us, and that messed us up a lot," Madrid midfielder Fede Valverde added.
"We went to penalties. By the end we were very tired, it was very noticeable, and thank God we won."