Controversy and qualification: Madrid eliminates Atleti and advances to Champions quarter-finals

Once again, controversy made its presence felt in a knockout match involving Real Madrid. The merengue team is in the quarter-finals of the Champions League after controversially defeating Atlético de Madrid in the penalty shootout (2-4). The colchonero team dominated a white team that was overwhelmingly inferior to their rivals and managed to beat them in the 120 minutes of play (1-0) with a goal from Gallagher, but a slip by Julián Álvarez from the penalty spot condemned his team.

The team led by Carlo Ancelotti played what was, arguably, their worst match of the season. The Madrid players showed themselves to be a team without soul and without football, but the lack of bite from the colchoneros prevented them from being finished off both in regular time and in extra time, so everything was decided from the penalty spot.

In an unusual penalty shootout, the whites emerged victorious after the VAR canceled a goal scored by the Argentine Álvarez, who slipped and apparently touched the ball twice. Although Oblak gave life to the locals by saving Lucas Vázquez's shot, Marcos Llorente hit his shot against the crossbar and the Madrid players, who are starting to live off their 'luck', sealed their ticket to the next round of the competition amidst controversy.

Atlético overwhelmed Madrid in the first half

The Atlético de Madrid put on a show against the merengues in the first 45 minutes. The locals came out onto the field of the Riyadh Air Metropolitano with 'blood in their eyes' and, taking advantage of a sleepy Madrid, they fully entered the tie when the clock hadn't even marked a minute since the referee's initial whistle.

In a fantastic collective play, De Paul reached the right sideline of the area, putting in a low cross. Julián Álvarez tried to touch it with his heel, but the ball deflected off Raúl Asencio and left the ball dead for Conor Gallagher, arriving from behind, to fire at Courtois and open the scoring, leveling the aggregate score.

The Madrid players tried to react, but the terrible play they have shown throughout the season ultimately took its toll, as they could not generate a single dangerous action. In fact, the standout figure of the team was, as usual, Thibaut Courtois, who was forced to make a couple of outstanding saves against shots from the 'Spider' to prevent his goal from falling.

The colchoneros were tremendously superior to their rival, but the Belgian goalkeeper prevented them from increasing their lead, which was the best news for a Madrid that seemed knocked out after the English midfielder's goal. With that, both teams headed to the locker rooms with the aggregate score tied and everything to be decided in the second half.

Vinicius Jr. made a fool of himself in the second half

Upon returning from the break, the rojiblancos maintained the trend of the first half and continued to threaten Courtois's area. In their area, meanwhile, they defended with a solid block, impenetrable for the merengue forwards, who could not penetrate the wall of the indios. The match entered a plateau where, despite having possession of the ball, the whites continued to be dominated by their opponents.

However, Ancelotti's men saw a glimmer of hope in the 67th minute. Jude Bellingham sent a long pass to Kylian Mbappé and he, with enough space to run, charged like a train into Oblak's area. In a desperate attempt to stop him, Clément Lenglet brought him down and the referee pointed to the penalty spot for the Madridistas. Vinicius Jr. prepared to shoot from the penalty spot, but his shot went sky-high as he tried to place it in the top corner.

Just a minute later, Giuliano Simeone forced Courtois to make another outstanding save after a powerful right-footed shot, and in the 80th minute, Ferland Mendy had to leave the field due to injury. The outlook was completely discouraging for the merengues. As the match was coming to an end, Ángel Correa brushed against the winning goal with a left-footed shot inside the Madrid area, but it went just over the crossbar. Neither team could impose their will in the final moments, and the match ultimately went to extra time.

Madrid won in an unprecedented penalty shootout

The extra time was a real bore. Real Madrid grew on the field, but Atlético de Madrid knew how to withstand the merengues' assaults in their area. The whites had more space in attack than in the 90 minutes of regular time, but the fateful performance of their forwards prevented them from taking advantage of it, and after 30 minutes in which the most notable event was the legendary scolding that Bellingham gave to Vinicius Jr. after a loss of possession by the Brazilian, the match ended with the aggregate score tied and everything would be decided from the penalty spot.

Mbappé struck first in the penalty shootout. The Frenchman, like in the World Cup final, did not miss. Just like Sorloth, who celebrated with great fury. Bellingham was the second to score, and then came the moment of controversy.

At the moment of shooting, Julián Álvarez slipped and touched the ball twice. Initially, the situation had gone unnoticed, but in a rarely seen event, the VAR intervened and canceled the Argentine's goal after a couple of minutes of review, igniting the controversy in the Riyadh Air Metropolitano.

The Madrid seemed to revive and their players felt qualified for the quarter-finals, but Oblak saved the penalty from Lucas Vázquez and gave his team one more chance. However, Marcos Llorente, in an unfortunate homage to Juanfran in that Champions final in Milan, hit his shot against the crossbar and Rüdiger, like in Manchester last season, sealed the Madridistas' passage to the next round.

Thus, the team led by Carlo Ancelotti will face Arsenal under Mikel Arteta in the quarter-finals. However, their controversial qualification will surely have repercussions, as it is the first time such a situation has been seen in a decisive stage of the continental championship. For now, we must wait for the date of the matches against the 'gunners', which will be announced this Thursday in the draw to be held by UEFA.

Technical sheet of the match:

• Atlético de Madrid, 1 (2): Oblak; Llorente, Giménez, Lenglet (Le Normand, min. 90+1), Reinildo (Azpilicueta, min. 98); Gallagher (Lino, min. 85), De Paul (Molina, min. 90+5), Pablo Barrios, Giuliano Simeone (Correa, min. 89); Griezmann (Sorloth, min. 89), Julián Álvarez.
• Real Madrid, 0 (4): Courtois; Valverde, Asencio, Rüdiger, Mendy (Fran García, min. 83); Modric (Lucas Vázquez, min. 65), Tchouameni (Camavinga, min. 65); Rodrygo (Brahim Díaz, min. 79), Bellingham, Vinicius (Endrick, min. 115); Mbappé.
• Goals: 1-0, Gallagher (min. 1).
• Referee: Szymon Marciniak.
• Stadium: Riyadh Air Metropolitano.