Real Madrid beat city rivals Atletico 4-2 on penalties while Arsenal set up a Champions League quarter-final against the holders with a 9-3 aggregate win over PSV Eindhoven
Antonio Ruediger converted the winning spot-kick for Real after their second-leg match finished 1-0 to Atletico thanks to an early goal from midfielder Conor Gallagher, while Vinicius Jr. missed a late second-half penalty for Real.
Atletico were fuming after forward Julian Alvarez had his shootout penalty ruled out by the referee. He slipped and his left foot slightly touched the ball before he kicked it with his right foot, making it two touches and invalidating a strike that would have levelled the shootout at 2-2.
Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak saved a spot-kick by Lucas Vazquez but Marcos Llorente stroked his effort in off the post, leaving Ruediger to seal victory for defending champions Real who are bidding for a record-extending 16th European Cup win.
The Spanish side will face Arsenal in the last eight.
“In the end, a penalty shootout is a lottery,” Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois told Spanish TV Movistar Plus.
“I sense that (Alvarez) touched the ball twice and I told the referee. It’s not easy to see and it’s bad luck for them. “We didn’t play our best game but we got through and that’s the important thing.”
After Real grabbed a 2-1 win in a scrappy first leg at Santiago Bernabeu last week, Atletico started fast when Gallagher scored after 23 seconds, firing in a first-time effort from Rodrigo De Paul’s low cross.
Atletico’s early goal put Madrid in an uncomfortable position, having to patiently work their way through the hosts’ low defensive block.
LACKLUSTRE PERFORMANCES
Atletico were happy to let their opponents keep possession, confident in their ability to keep them at bay while creating several chances with counter attacks.
Vinicius Jr, Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo all produced lacklustre performances, failing to create opportunities against Atletico’s well organised and disciplined defence.
Alvarez was a constant menace on counter attacks, with Courtois making a string of saves to deny the Argentine forward. Real Madrid finally created a chance to equalise in the 70th minute thanks to a brilliant run by Kylian Mbappe.
Atletico defender Clement Lenglet held the France striker from behind and a penalty was awarded but Vinicius blasted his shot over the crossbar.
In the shootout, Mbappe scored first for Real and Jude Bellingham was also on target after Alexander Sorloth had netted Atletico’s first.
Alvarez thought he had equalised, but following a VAR review the referee signaled the infringement, leaving the entire stadium confused as it took time for the scoreboard to be corrected.
Atletico never managed to recover and Ruediger scored the winning penalty with a low shot that Oblak got a hand to before the ball deflected off his glove into the back of the net.
“It hurts because we played a great game,” Oblak told Movistar Plus.
“We lacked a little bit of luck, but the way it ended for us with Julian (Alvarez) penalty hurts a lot… It’s a disappointing defeat… Heartbreaking.”
Arsenal ease through to quarter-finals as PSV restore pride
Progress was already a formality for the Arsenal after their stunning 7-1 victory in the Netherlands last week and when Oleksandr Zinchenko blasted them ahead in the fifth minute, PSV would have feared another hammering.
But Ivan Perisic replied for the visitors with a sublime finish in the 18th minute to give the thousands of boisterous PSV fans something to cheer.
Declan Rice headed Arsenal back in front from Raheem Sterling’s pinpoint cross before halftime but PSV earned a deserved reward for a vastly-improved display as Couhaib Driouech calmly chipped in a 70th-minute leveller.
With the outcome long since decided, swathes of home supporters opted for an early getaway but PSV’s army of fans stayed until the end and almost saw their side snatch victory as substitute Luuk de Jong headed narrowly wide in stoppage time.
Arsenal’s easy progress was not without a cost as the impressive Sterling, given a rare start, was booked late on for a rash tackle and he will now miss the first leg of next month’s quarter-final at home to Real Madrid.
Zinchenko, one of seven changes to the Arsenal side that drew with Manchester United at the weekend, had never scored a goal in European competition but opened his account with a stunner, taking Sterling’s pass and cutting in from the right before lashing a shot past PSV keeper Walter Benitez.
That put Arsenal 8-1 ahead on aggregate and Bayern Munich’s record Champions League knockout 12-1 aggregate win over Sporting in the 2008-09 season looked to be in range.
But Arsenal did not have the appetite to chase records as they played the game largely in cruise control as they reached the quarter-finals for the second successive season having fallen to Bayern Munich last year.
“We’ve done it consistently and now we want to make the next step, which is going to be really difficult. But we are very capable of that,” Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta told reporters before knowing whether Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid were waiting for them.
“We are a club, a team that wants to be the best and wants to be competing with the best clubs in the world. And in order to do that, you have to constantly be there. And it’s very difficult. But we’ve done it for two years in a row. And we have the capacity and the ability to do it even better.”
Wednesday’s results:
Lille (1) 1 Borussia Dortmund (0) 2
aggregate: 2-3
Aston Villa (0) 3 Club Brugge (0) 0
aggregate: 6-1
Atlético Madrid (1) 3 Real Madrid (0) 4
aggregate: 2-2 – Real Madrid win 4-3 on penalties
Arsenal (2) 2 PSV (1) 2
aggregate: 9-3
