MADRID, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid advanced to the Champions League quarterfinals after a thrilling penalty shootout victory over Atletico Madrid, where fortune ultimately favored Los Blancos and turned its back on their city rivals.
Conor Gallagher opened the scoring for Atletico just 30 seconds into the match, leveling the tie 1-1 on aggregate, and Los Colchoneros dominated for most of the 90 minutes, only to be thwarted by several impressive saves from Thibaut Courtois.
Real Madrid's best opportunity came from the penalty spot, but Vinicius Jr. leaned back in his attempt, sending the ball high and wide, which meant the tie headed into extra time.
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.
After Kylian Mbappe, Alexander Sorloth and Jude Bellingham had successfully converted their spot kicks, Julian 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 Madrid's Lucas Vazquez had his penalty saved by Jan Oblak, but Marcos Llorente's subsequent effort struck the woodwork, allowing Real Madrid to progress to the last eight with Antonio Rudiger's decisive strike.
Madrid will face Arsenal in the quarterfinals, after Mikel Arteta's side beat PSV Eindhoven 9-3 on aggregate, following last week's dominant 7-1 victory in the Netherlands, 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 equalized for PSV after 16 minutes, but Sterling again turned provider, this time setting up Declan Rice to put Arsenal ahead 2-1 by the 37th minute. Couhaib Driouech made it 2-2 with 20 minutes remaining, but that proved little more than a consolation for PSV, with Arsenal content to conserve their energy for the remainder of the contest.
Aston Villa found their task of defending a 3-1 first-leg lead against Club Brugge made significantly easier when visiting defender Kyriani Sabbe was sent off after just 16 minutes for pulling down Marcus Rashford when the England attacker was clear on goal.
Though the score remained 0-0 at halftime, Villa surged ahead in the second half with three goals. Marco Asensio struck either side of Ian Maatsen's 57th-minute goal, sealing a straightforward 6-1 aggregate victory.
Last season's beaten finalists Borussia Dortmund bounced back from one goal down to secure a 2-1 win away to Lille, resulting in a 3-2 aggregate victory over the French side. Jonathan David netted a first-time finish to put Lille ahead within five minutes, but Emre Can equalized from the penalty spot nine minutes after the break 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. ■
