In a thrilling UEFA Champions League Round of 16 match on March 12, 2025, Real Madrid edged past Atl\u00e9tico Madrid in a dramatic penalty shootout, securing their spot in the quarter-finals. The match, held at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium, concluded with a 1-1 draw after extra time, leading to a tense shootout that was marred by controversy.<\/p>\n
The game began with a bang as Conor Gallagher netted a goal for Atl\u00e9tico Madrid just 28 seconds into the match, marking the fastest goal by an English player in Champions League history. Real Madrid had a golden opportunity to equalize in the second half when they were awarded a penalty, but Vin\u00edcius J\u00fanior\u2019s attempt was thwarted, keeping Atl\u00e9tico in the lead. However, Real Madrid\u2019s relentless pressure paid off when they found the back of the net, leveling the score and pushing the match into extra time.<\/p>\n
The penalty shootout took a contentious turn during Atl\u00e9tico\u2019s second attempt. Juli\u00e1n \u00c1lvarez stepped up but slipped during his run-up, inadvertently making contact with the ball twice before it entered the goal. According to UEFA regulations, a player cannot touch the ball twice during a penalty kick. The referee, upon consulting the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), disallowed the goal, citing the double touch as the infraction.<\/p>\n
This decision proved pivotal as Real Madrid capitalized on the situation. Antonio R\u00fcdiger converted the decisive penalty, propelling Los Blancos into the quarter-finals with a 4-2 victory in the shootout.<\/p>\n
Atl\u00e9tico Madrid\u2019s manager, Diego Simeone, expressed his frustration over the decision, challenging those present to confirm if they had seen the double contact, implying that the call was dubious. Despite the setback, Simeone praised his team\u2019s performance, emphasizing their competitiveness and resilience throughout the match.<\/p>\n
This incident adds to the storied rivalry between the two Madrid clubs, reminiscent of past Champions League encounters where controversies and dramatic moments have often been the narrative. Real Madrid\u2019s advancement sets up a tantalizing quarter-final clash against Arsenal, promising more high-stakes action in the tournament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a thrilling UEFA Champions League Round of 16 match on March 12, 2025, Real Madrid edged past Atl\u00e9tico Madrid\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":36426,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[410],"class_list":["post-15009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","tag-atletico-madrid"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15009\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}