Atletico Madrid 1-0 Real Madrid (Agg 2-2, 2-4 on pens): Real Madrid Through in Champions League Amid Penalty Drama
Real Madrid is into the Champions League quarter-finals after a 4-2 penalty shoot-out victory against rivals Atletico Madrid.
Atleti won the second leg 1-0 at the Wanda Metropolitano, with Conor Gallagher getting the only goal of the game, and the penalty shoot-out featured a disallowed penalty from Julian Alvarez and an incredibly fortunate winning penalty from Antonio Rudiger.
🙌 INTO THE QUARTER-FINALS!
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) March 12, 2025
🏁 @AtletiEnglish (2) 1-0 (4) @RealMadridEn (Agg. 2-2)
⚽ 1' Gallagher pic.twitter.com/ygE4lk4Rhk
Lightning Start From Atletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid made the perfect start when Rodrigo De Paul was played in down the right and his ball into the box found Gallagher, who poked in his first-ever European goal. That leveled the tie after just 29 seconds of the match.
Atletico maintained a high intensity for the rest of the first half but was limited to tame efforts at Thibaut Courtois' goal. As for Real Madrid, there was very little cohesion between the attacking players, and frustration continued to build well into the second half.
Kylian Mbappe has the ability to create something from nothing, and with the game in a lull with just over 20 minutes to go, he won a penalty after Clement Lenglet felled him in the box. Shocking, though, Vinicius Jr. stepped up and blazed the penalty way over the bar. That was met with rapturous scenes in the Wanda Metropolitano.
It was a miss symptomatic of Real Madrid's performance. Angel Correa almost won the tie late on with an individual effort, but extra-time beckoned.
Extra-time And Penalties in Madrid
Both sides appeared to loosen up in extra-time with a decent chance at each end. There was a clear threat from both teams, but penalties still seemed inevitable.
Vinicius Jr. was taken off for Endrick by Carlo Ancelotti, meaning the Brazilian would not have to face another penalty.
UNTIL THE END. ALWAYS!!!!!!
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) March 12, 2025
Remarkably, during the penalty shootout, Julian Alvarez seemed to have scored, but it was then disallowed because he touched the ball twice.
Atletico Madrid: Sorloth (Goal), Alvarez (Miss), Correa (Goal), Llorente (Miss)
Real Madrid: Mbappe (Goal), Bellingham (Goal), Valverde (Goal), Vazquez (Miss), Rudiger (Goal)
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Euan is an experienced soccer writer who has been featured by The Guardian, MARCA, 90min, Sempre Milan and many more similar publications. He secured a first-class degree in journalism at Liverpool John Moores University and his career has seen him primarily focus on European football, developing an in-depth knowledge of multiple clubs and leagues in the process.