By Victor Kanayo
Serial winners Real Madrid will battle Premier League side Arsenal in the quarter-final of this season’s UEFA Champions League.
This comes after Real stopped their league rivals Atletico Madrid in a penalty shootout in the round of 16 clash.
After Atletico had won 1-0 on the night, leaving the tie at 2-2 on aggregate, including extra time, Antonio Rudiger scored the decisive spot-kick in a 4-2 shootout win following two missed penalties by Atletico players.
Atletico had led 1-0 after 90 minutes and extra time at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium to cancel out Real’s 2-1 advantage from last week’s first leg.
Vinicius Jr missed a second-half penalty, sending it high and wide, before being replaced by teenager Endrick in extra time.
Fede Valverde converted his penalty to put Real 3-1 ahead, and although Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak saved Lucas Vazquez’s spot-kick to briefly give Atletico hope, Marcos Llorente hit the bar.
Antonio Rudiger then stepped up to squeeze home the decisive penalty, sending Real through by a 4-2 margin.
Real Madrid also beat Atletico in a shootout to win the 2016 Champions League final.
As for Arsenal, they progressed to the quarter-final stage after a 2-2 draw with PSV, securing a 9-3 aggregate victory.
Meanwhile, Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund edged past French club Lille to set up a quarter-final clash with Barcelona.
Barcelona had easily sent Benfica packing from the competition.
