By Korede James
Real Madrid continued their dominance over Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night as the holders eliminated their city rivals via a penalty shootout in the round of 16.
Atletico won the second leg 1-0 at the Wanda Metropolitano, which ended the fixture 2-2 on aggregate and took it to penalties, with Real Madrid winning 4-2.
There was something controversy during the shootout as Atletico’s Julian Alvarez initially converted his spot kick, but VAR checks showed he touched the ball twice while slipping, and the goal was chalked off.
Real Madrid have now eliminated Atletico in all six meetings between both teams in the Champions League knockout stages, including two finals.
The 15-time winners will now meet Arsenal in the quarter-finals.
The Gunners progressed to the last eight after drawing 2-2 with PSV in their second leg encounter at the Emirates and qualifying 9-3 on aggregate.
This will be the second time Real Madrid and Arsenal would clash in Europe’s elite club competition.
The first time was in the round of 16 in the 2005/2006 season with Arsenal going through 1-0 on aggregate.
Also on Wednesday, Aston Villa thrashed 10-man Club Brugge, with Super Eagles midfielder Raphael Onyedika in action, 3-0 to progress 6-1 on aggregate, and Borussia Dortmund beat Lille 2-1 in France to advance 3-2 overall.
The other quarter-final pairings are Bayern Munich against Inter Milan, Barcelona versus Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain versus Aston Villa.
RESULTS
Atletico 1-0 Madrid (2-2 aggregate, 2-4 penalties)
Arsenal 2-2 PSV (9-3 aggregate)
Lille 1-2 Dortmund (2-3 aggregate)
Aston Villa 3-0 Club Brugge (6-1 aggregate)
