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Antonio Rudiger buried the winning penalty kick in a chaotic shootout to send Real Madrid to the Champions League quarter-finals after Atletico Madrid levelled the last-16 tie with a 1-0 second-leg win on Wednesday.
Atleti scored early, but the game descended into a cagey stalemate thereafter, and penalties were the cruel difference maker. Both sides missed from the spot, but Rudiger's winner sent Madrid through.
Atleti only needed 27 seconds to level the tie as they capitalised on a languid opening from Madrid, working the ball down the right in a well-constructed move that ended with a Conor Gallagher tap-in. Los Blancos, by contrast, scarcely had a chance in the first half as Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo were well-neutralised by Atleti out wide, while Kylian Mbappe constantly wandered into traffic.
The home side, meanwhile, looked dangerous every time they broke, full of zip and intent. Julian Alvarez found all sorts of dangerous positions, but was repeatedly denied by Thibaut Courtois. Still, for all of their desire, there was an inevitability about the scoreline at the break.
Real looked a much changed side in the second half, and seemed to have a golden chance to break the tie open when Mbappe was dragged down in the box by Clement Lenglet. Vinicius, however, skied the ensuing penalty. After that, there were a series of half-chances before extra-time, which failed to provide any clear cut opportunities.
Eventually, penalties were needed to settle things, and Atleti blinked first as Alvarez slipped while taking his spot-kick, which led to him touching the ball twice. The Rojiblancos did have a chance to get back into it after Lucaz Vazquez's effort was saved, only to see Marcos Llorente blast the ball off the bar.
Real, of course, capitalised, as Rudiger's penalty crept in off the palm of Jan Oblak, sending them - impossibly, yet inevitably - to another Champions League quarter final.
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