Chaos unfolds as Real Madrid edged past Atlético Madrid in a controversial night in Madrid

Antonio Rüdiger's final penalty kick earned Real Madrid a place in the quarter-finals. (Image credits - FMT, License Details

Real Madrid somehow managed to find a way past Atlético Madrid last night to secure a place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in a controversial second leg of the Round of 16 at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid. 

The defending champions arrived at the second leg with a one-goal lead as a result of their narrow win at the Bernabeu in the first leg. 

However, Real could not enjoy their advantage as their lead was instantly cancelled out by Connor Gallagher’s strike just 30 seconds into the game, shifting the entire momentum of the tie in favour of the hosts. 

The Los Blancos had a wonderful opportunity to draw the score to level terms on the night and restore their lead in the tie with a spot kick following a risky challenge on Kylian Mbappé by Clément Lenglet. 

To everyone’s surprise, Mbappé, who is Real’s first-choice penalty taker, did not step up to take the spot kick and instead handed the ball to Vinicius Junior, who skyrocketed his shot way over the crossbar, failing to give his side a deserving lead on aggregate.

Both teams failed to convert any of their chances as the scoreline remained on level terms, leaving the tie to be decided by a penalty shootout, where the real drama and the main talking point of the game took stage. 

Julian Alvarez’s controversial kick: Was it the right decision?

Atlético Madrid’s second penalty taker was their first-choice penalty taker, Julian Alvarez, who was stepping up to put the hosts back on level terms in the shootout. 

In a chaotic penalty, Alvarez slipped and fell as he made contact with the ball but still saw it fire into the top left corner as he ran back to his teammates in joy. 

However, the Argentine's celebrations were cut short as the VAR intervened and reviewed his spot kick for a possible "double touch” offence. 

After a brief moment of reviewing, the match official announced by signalling that Alvarez’s strike has been disallowed and his shot will be counted as a miss as the Argentine touched the ball with his left foot before shooting the ball with his right foot while slipping. 

As per ESPN, the official rulebook states that during a penalty kick, if a player touches the ball before shooting it, the spot kick would not count and be disallowed. 

Atlético Madrid eventually went on to lose the shootout to Real Madrid, making Alvarez’s controversial penalty decision the biggest talking point of the match. 

While many argued that the decision was unfair and extremely harsh, the videos released later clearly show that Julian Alvarez did make contact with his left foot before shooting the ball with his right foot, which, according to the official rulebook, was rightly disallowed. 

“It is football heritage”: Real Madrid's love affair with the Champions League continues

It was a similar narrative for the 15-time UCL winners as they yet again, somehow, managed to find a way past yet another tough opponent.

It also wasn’t the first time that Real Madrid broke the hearts of Diego Simeone and his men in the Champions League by beating them on penalties, as the exact same thing happened in the final of the 2015/16 campaign as well. 

Despite a subpar league stage, where they failed to secure a direct qualification in the knockout stages, Real’s winning mentality and their love for the prestigious Champions League title helped them take down Manchester City and yesterday, their local rivals, Atlético, to secure a place in the quarter-finals for a staggering 39th time. 

Real Madrid will be facing Arsenal in the next stage of the competition, aiming to take one step closer to winning a record-breaking 16th Champions League title.