PARIS: Julian Alvarez had his penalty in the shootout controversially disallowed as holders Real Madrid beat rivals Atletico Madrid to reach the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday while Aston Villa and Arsenal kept the English flag flying the day after Liverpool’s exit.

Failures from the spot defined the second leg of the Madrid derby last-16 tie as Marco Llorente’s shot struck the bar after Alvarez’s score despite slipping was disallowed on video review because he touched the ball twice and Real won 4-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw on aggregate.

Atletico led 1-0 after 90 minutes and extra time in a typically tenacious performance at their Metropolitano Stadium to cancel out Real’s 2-1 advantage from the first leg last week.

Real also beat Atletico in a shootout to win the 2016 final — part of a streak of eliminating their city rivals in the knockout rounds for four straight years. That hard-luck run started with the 2014 final when Atletico gave up an equalising goal in stoppage time.

“When you get knocked out, it is not easy to digest,” Atletico coach Diego Simeone said, “but I go out with a feeling of peace.”

Real move on to the quarter-finals to face Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal — who completed an emphatic 9-3 aggregate victory against PSV Eindhoven with a 2-2 home draw — in what will be the first meeting of the clubs since 2006.

Marco Asensio’s brace helped Villa beat 10-man Club Brugge 3-0 on the night and 6-1 overall and into a quarter-final meeting with his parent club and Liverpool conquerors Paris St Germain, which will mean Villa coach Unai Emery facing his former side.

Borussia Dortmund rallied with two second-half goals to win 2-1 at Lille and advance 3-2 on aggregate. The beaten finalists last season now face Barcelona.

Two key incidents defined regulation time at the Metropolitano. Atletico Madrid scored within 30 seconds and Real Madrid missed a penalty in the 70th minute.

Atletico took the lead with their first attack when England midfielder Conor Gallagher pounced on the ball from close range when a cross by Rodrigo De Paul was deflected into the goalmouth.

Real star Vinicius Junior blazed a penalty kick — awarded when Kylian Mbappe was hauled down by Clement Lenglet after accelerating into the box — high over the Atletico goal when he could have sent the 15-time champions through.

The 30 additional minutes were packed with excitement as Atletico again edged the play but failed to convert their chances into goals, leading to a penalty shootout to decide the winner.

“We went to penalties, by the end we were very tired, it was very noticeable and thank God we won,” Real’s Federico Valverde told broadcaster Movistar.

After Mbappe, Alexander Sorloth and Jude Bellingham had successfully converted their spot kicks, Alvarez equalized at 2-2. However, he slipped while taking his kick, and VAR ruled that he had double-touched the ball, rendering his kick invalid.

Real’s Lucas Vazquez had his penalty saved by Jan Oblak, but Marcos Llorente’s subsequent effort struck the woodwork, allowing Real to progress to the last eight with Antonio Rudiger’s decisive strike.

“It hurts, I think we played a great match, but unfortunately we lacked a bit of luck,” said Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak.

It was more relaxed in London, where Arsenal’s progress to a second straight quarter-final was never in doubt going into the second leg against PSV after a 7-1 win in the Netherlands last week, leaving their rivals with an almost impossible task.

PSV’s challenge became even steeper when Raheem Sterling assisted Oleksandr Zinch­enko for Arsenal’s opener after just six minutes.

Ivan Perisic fired in an 18th-minute equaliser to give the travelling supporters something to cheer before Declan Rice nodded the Gunners back in front before the break.

Couhaib Driouech drew his side back level with 20 minutes remaining to earn a draw on the night but the Gunners went through to the last eight in successive seasons for the first time since 2010.

ASENSIO STARS AGAIN FOR VILLA

Villa’s unbeaten home record has driven their run to the quarter-final, with wins against Bay­ern Munich, Bologna, Celtic and now Brugge.

Brugge’s task of closing a two-goal deficit was made even harder when Kyriani Sabbe was sent off for bringing Marcus Rashford down while he was through on goal and Villa made the made the man advantage count in the second half.

Asensio replaced Ollie Watkins at the break and took only five minutes to break the deadlock when he hooked into the roof of the net from close range.

Ian Maatsen scored his first goal for the club before Asensio netted his seventh goal since signing on loan from PSG in January.

“It’s mad. A lot of years of hard work. Champions League quarter-finalists? Can’t ask for much more,” said Villa captain John McGinn. “It doesn’t get much harder than PSG over two legs.”

DORTMUND THRIVE IN EUROPE

Just like last season, Dortmund are better in the Champions League than the Bundesliga.

The Bundesliga’s 10th-placed team trailed Lille from the fifth minute to Canada forward Jonathan David’s shot, before rallying in the second half for a decisive 2-1 win.

Dortmund leveled in the 54th from Emre Can’s penalty following a foul on Serhou Guirassy. Guirassy then played a crucial role in the winning goal, providing the pass for Maximilian Beier to fire the ball into the roof of the Lille net.

Dortmund were the beaten finalists last June — losing 2-0 to Real at Wembley Stadium — and got into this Champions League only because Germany earned a bonus entry for fifth place in the Bundesliga.

Niko Kovac, the club’s third coach in the Champions League this season, now takes Dortmund to face former star forward Robert Lewandowski at Barca.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2025