Antonio Rudiger’s penalty decided a bizarre shoot-out and an epic Champions League round-of-16 tie as Real Madrid beat Atletico Madrid to advance to a quarter-final against Arsenal.
Rudiger’s kick squirmed through the grasp of Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak to win the shoot-out. Julian Alvarez had earlier seen his effort ruled out for a double touch, while Lucas Vazquez’s effort was saved for Real, before Marcos Llorente’s strike crashed off the underside of the bar. That left Rudiger to become Real’s penalty hero.
Atletico levelled the tie just 27 seconds into the game when Conor Gallagher turned home a Rodrigo De Paul cross via help from Giuliano Simeone. Real were then frustrated in the first half and only found an opening when Kylian Mbappe was brought down by Clement Lenglet for a penalty in the 69th minute — which Vinicius Junior skied at a ground where he has suffered racist abuse. After extra time and penalties, it was the record 15-time winners and holders Real who prevailed again.
Here, our writers break down the key talking points.
What happened in the penalty shoot-out?
It might have been close to nine years ago now, but the last time these two sides were separated by penalties — the 2016 Champions League final — was still at the forefront of most fans’ minds at the Metropolitano.
Kylian Mbappe was the first to step up for Real Madrid, rolling the ball into the bottom right corner with ease, before Alexander Sorloth stepped up and found the same corner with much more power.
Jude Bellingham also dispatched with outrageous confidence in that same spot, before the real drama unfolded. Atletico thought they had equalised after Alvarez smashed the ball down the middle, but it was subsequently disallowed for a double touch after the Argentina forward was ruled to have struck the ball with both feet as he fell to the ground.
Some home fans hardly knew what was happening as Federico Valverde stepped up and placed emphatically into the bottom right-hand corner, again, but Oblak wrestled momentum back in Atletico’s favour with a save to his left. All square at 3-3, with one penalty each to go.
Llorente took on the responsibility and rattled the underside of the crossbar — an agonising miss — before Rudiger, who scored the winning penalty at Manchester City in the quarter-finals last season, squeezed the ball past Oblak and into the side of the net.
A horrific way for Atletico to go, but this is what Real Madrid do in this competition — win, against all logic.
Thom Harris
A new, cruel heartbreak for Atletico
Atletico must have thought they had come up with every possible way of losing to Real in the Champions League. Missed penalties, mistakes, extra time… they had known heartbreak in just about every flavour.
Football, though, can always surprise you, and here are four words — four cruel, lacerating words — for you: VAR in a shootout.
Atletico had scored in the first minute of this match, cancelling out Real’s first-leg advantage and instantly steading their nerve. They absorbed pressure for 120 minutes, dodged fate when Vinicius Jr missed an 70th-minute penalty and arguably had the better chances to settle this tie in regular play. They scored their first two kicks in the shootout, ramping up the pressure on Real.
Except no, they hadn’t. The referee stopped the shootout after Alvarez’s kick. There were replays of Alvarez, magnificent over the two legs, dispatching his kick high into the net. And as the images slowed to an agonising crawl, a nightmare unfurled: the ball had brushed its standing leg as he kicked it.
The Metropolitano didn’t seem to know what was happening. Within a couple of minutes, Llorente had also missed. Oblak saved from Vazquez but the die was cast, a super-sized portion of doom already on order. Rudiger smuggled his kick home, sparking jubilant Real celebrations.
For Atletico, there was only darkness.
Was it always destined to end this way? Extra time and penalties had seemed inevitable from the moment Gallagher bundled home the opener. It was just that kind of night — gripping, gritty, the atmosphere lacking a little oxygen.
For the most part, that seemed to suit Atleti. Through it all you had the familiar sight of their coach Diego Simeone, dressed like a teenager who has seen precisely one mafia film, romping up and down the touchline, pure main-character energy. At one point he celebrated an Atletico corner like a lottery win, then immediately started telling his players to calm down. He could hardly have been more in his element.
Atletico’s players, too, went through their defensive repertoire. For most of normal time that meant shuffling manfully from side to side, a 10-man crab dance, eliminating any hint of space before it even appeared. Real huffed and puffed, creating next to nothing.
When things loosened up just a few percentage points, nerves jangling and lactic acid taking hold, it fell to the home centre-backs in particular to repel Real’s attacks. Jose Maria Gimenez did so brilliantly, digging out a low cross just when Bellingham looked set to score. Clement Lenglet’s approach — a rugby tackle on Mbappe that resulted in a Real penalty — was rather less effective but Vinicius Jr spurned the gift.
Extra time might have gone either way. Real grew in stature, Bellingham getting into something like last-action-hero mode, but it was Atleti who had the best chances through Angel Correa and Alexander Sorloth. Still, by this stage, you’d have put your mortgage and then some on penalties being required.
They were. So, too, was a video replay.
Atletico will take absolutely no solace in the novelty value. Real, as jammy as they are brilliant whenever the Champions League music plays, will no doubt be revelling in it for months to come.
Jack Lang
Gallagher’s early effort
It all seems so long ago, but the tone of the first half had been set right from the opening moments. Atletico quickly attacked down the right and Madrid were caught completely cold.
Nobody stopped De Paul crossing the ball, Raul Asencio was distracted by Simeone’s near-post run, and Gallagher nipped ahead of Valverde to smash in the opener from inside the six yard box with just 27 seconds on the clock.
It was Atletico’s earliest goal in a Champions League game, the first by an Englishman in a Madrid derbi and the quickest by an Englishman in the Champions League.
00:27 – Conor Gallagher’s opening goal for Atlético Madrid against Real Madrid after 27 seconds is the fastest goal ever scored by an Englishman in the history of the UEFA Champions League. Vamos. pic.twitter.com/dCtZ5NbV8o
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 12, 2025
Returning to the XI after being a substitute for last week’s first leg, Gallagher’s performance epitomised everything that Simeone’s team did well during the first half. The former Chelsea midfielder was fast into tackles, neat in possession and played with a determination and effectiveness that nobody in white could match.
At one point, Gallagher was quick to get a foot in and rob a flat-footed Jude Bellingham of possession near half-way, setting up Atletico for a counter-attack after a long spell of ineffectual Madrid possession.
Bellingham, in his own way, also summed up all that went wrong for his team in the first period. He was sloppy on the ball, slow to react as Atletico players zipped around him and his frustration was clear as the half progressed.
He was involved in a needless bit of bother with a grinning Guiliano Simeone, and then remonstrated with his own team-mate Aurelien Tchouameni when they both attacked a cross in the Atletico area and got in each other’s way. Gallagher appeared to have won the battle of the England internationals when he was withdrawn to a huge ovation in the 85th minute — although Bellingham was still full of running deep into extra time.
Dermot Corrigan
Atletico nullify Real’s left-hand side
Atletico’s out-of-possession shape in big games under Diego Simeone is rarely a surprise, but it is hard not to be struck by the energy, commitment and collective spirit on show every time they take to the Champions League stage.
The set-up is always a 4-4-2 without the ball, but with the relentless duo of Giuliano Simeone and Gallagher starting on the flanks this evening — just as they did for their famous smash-and-grab win at Paris Saint-Germain back in November — it can seamlessly become five, six or seven across the back, depending on how many players the opposition commit forward.
Real Madrid could only muster three shots in each half of normal time — their expected goals (xG) tally of 0.25, excluding penalties, was their lowest in a 90-minute game since Ancelotti returned to the club in 2021 — as their left-sided attackers struggled to connect down their most dangerous flank.
Simeone locked onto Ferland Mendy, rushing out to the full-back whenever he received the ball, while Rodrigo De Paul diligently followed the movement of Bellingham inside. That left Llorente up against Vinicius Jr — but the Spaniard often had help from Simeone Jr, who dropped back to double up with Mendy often further back. The communication between Atletico’s trio was constant, De Paul barking orders to Simeone Jr, all three players with heads on a swivel to make sure they always had each other’s back.
Madrid did look dangerous down that side when Valverde was able to fizz pacy passes into Vinicius Jr, but even those moments of speed and precision were quickly smothered by sheer persistence and grit. Otherwise, it was just counter-attacks for Real.
Later in the second half, Rodrygo was released down the opposite flank, only for Reinildo to make up 30 yards and come crashing in. The ability to repeatedly conjure that character and selflessness from his players is the work of a special coach, but it was still not enough for Atletico.
Thom Harris
Vinicius Jr misses from the spot — but has the last laugh
When Real won penalty midway through the second half, with the tie poised on a knife-edge, there was a second as everyone looked to see who would take given all of Vinicius Jr, Bellingham and Mbappe have taken spot kicks this season.
Vinicius Jr stepped up, with huge pressure on him, and phenomenal noise inside the stadium. It was a huge decision, given how much the Brazil forward has suffered at the Metropolitano, including awful racist abuse in September 2023. He had also been whistled by many in the stadium every time he picked up the ball from early in the game.
It was not a good penalty, at all, skied high over the crossbar and into the area of the stadium where Atletico’s ultras gather — the first Vinicius Jr had missed of eight he has taken for Los Blancos.
Top-level sport is often cruel, but it was difficult not to feel for Vinicius Jr given the circumstances. He was withdrawn on 115 minutes, much to the Atletico fans’ joy — but Real had the last laugh.
Dermot Corrigan
What did Diego Simeone say?
We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.
What did Carlo Ancelotti say?
We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.
What next for Atletico Madrid?
Sunday, March 16: Barcelona (H), La Liga, 8pm GMT, 4pm ET
What next for Real Madrid?
Saturday, March 15: Villarreal (A), La Liga, 5.30pm GMT, 1.30pm ET
Recommended reading
(Top photo by Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images)
