Atletico Madrid 1-0 Real Madrid (agg 2-2, pens 2-4): More Champions League heartbreak for Colchoneros against Los Blancos as defending champions edge nervy shootout | OneFootball

Real Madrid have successfully booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League thanks to a penalty shootout victory over city rivals Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.

Diego Simeone’s men trailed 2-1 from the first leg last Tuesday but were level on aggregate less than 45 seconds into the second leg as Conor Gallagher fired home from close range after a teasing ball from Rodrigo De Paul left the Madrid backline scrambling.

Now behind, Madrid started to grow into the game, albeit without necessarily posing any significant attacking threat.

Looking to replicate his first-leg heroics, Julian Alvarez called Thibaut Courtois into action in the 25th minute, but the Belgian was up to the task this time around.

Still seeking to put together a sustained run of attacking pressure, Madrid finally had their first attempt on target just shy of the half-hour mark, although Rodrygo’s effort was comfortably saved by Jan Oblak.

Alvarez continued his personal duel with Courtois five minutes before the interval with a fierce near-post drive, which needed the Madrid goalie to be at his best.

That was the final attacking moment of note in the first period as Real Madrid went into the interval lucky to be only a goal down.

Atletico made another fast start in the second 45 minutes and stung the palms of Courtois early on through Alvarez, who was denied for a third time on the night.

In need of a lift, Carlo Ancelotti sent on Edouardo Camavinga and Lucas Vazquez for Luka Modric and Aurelien Tchouameni for the final 25 minutes.

Shortly afterwards, Madrid were afforded a glorious opportunity to regain their aggregate lead midway through the second half when Clement Lenglet fouled Kylian Mbappe inside the area.

However, Vinicius Junior blazed the resulting penalty well over the bar, much to the relief of the Atletico fans.

Giuliano Simeone and Griezmann nearly made Madrid pay for their penalty miss moments later but had their efforts dealt with by Courtois four minutes apart.

Less than a minute after coming on as a substitute, Samuel Lino was the next Atletico player to take a pop at Courtois’ goal with a long-range strike that was far from threatening.

Like Lino, Angel Correa was also sent for the final knockings of the contest and had an attempt within moments of his introduction, but the Argentine skied his effort.

The final whistle was blown just under six minutes after the end of regulation time to signal an additional half hour of play.

Brahim Diaz and Alexander Sorloth had early sights of goal in extra time, signalling that both teams were keen to notch a winner and avoid a penalty shootout.

Having been located by Pablo Barrios in the box, Sorloth fluffed his volley attempt, while Vazquez’s shot at the other end from a free kick proved to be the half’s final moment.

The second period of extra time was unable to separate the sides, who would now have their fate decided by the luxury of penalties.

Kylian Mbappe sent Oblak the wrong way to give Madrid the lead, after which Sorloth responded in kind to draw his side level.

Off the back of a relatively underwhelming display during the 120 minutes, Bellingham held his nerves from 12 yards to maintain Madrid’s perfect start, while Alvarez also found the back of the net but only after a double touch, and hence, his strike was cancelled.

Federico Valverde blasted past Oblak to put Madrid 3-1 up, and after Angel Correa had halved his side’s deficit, Oblak came up with a big stop to deny Vazquez.

With a glorious opportunity to restore parity, Marcos Llorente saw his kick cannon off the crossbar, leaving Antonio Rudiger with the opportunity to settle matters.

Despite getting a touch on Rudiger’s effort, Oblak could not do enough to keep the German out and Madrid sealed their place in the UCL last eight as a result.

Los Blancos will take on Arsenal in the next round, but before then, they have difficult assignments to navigate across league and cup duty, starting with an away clash at Villarreal.

Atletico, meanwhile, will continue their La Liga title quest with a huge clash against Barcelona this weekend.