English duo join Real Madrid in Champions League quarter-finals

PARIS – Real Madrid edged past city rivals Atletico in a dramatic penalty shoot-out to reach the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday, while Arsenal, Aston Villa and Borussia Dortmund also made it into the last eight.

The second leg of the Madrid derby last-16 tie was marked by a series of failures from the spot, including an extraordinary decision to disallow Julian Alvarez’s kick in the shoot-out for Atletico, as Real triumphed 4-2 on penalties after drawing 2-2 on aggregate.

They had been drawn level goal-wise on aggregate much earlier, when Conor Gallagher’s strike just 27 seconds after kick-off at the Metropolitano stadium made the overall score 1-1.

Gallagher’s close-range strike wiped out Real’s 2-1 advantage from the first leg last week, but the holders should have gone through in normal time.

They were awarded a spot-kick in the second half when Kylian Mbappé was dragged down by Clément Lenglet after being too fast for the defenders and running into the box.

But Vinicius Junior blasted his kick high over the bar, and the game advanced to extra time and then penalties without any additional scoring.

The shoot-out was contingent on a second Atletico penalty from Alvarez, which he scored. But a VAR check revealed he had made contact with the ball with his standing foot as he fell before hitting it into the net.

The penalty was then waved off before Lucas Vazquez spurned a chance for Real, Marcos Llorente hit the bar for Atletico, and the effort which ultimately did worm its way in to settle the score was Antonio Rudiger’s.

“We reached penalties and, in the final, we were very tired, what happened was very evident and, thank God, we won,” Real’s Federico Valverde told broadcaster Movistar.

Having now faced the Spanish team in five different Champions League knockouts over the last dozen seasons, the record 15-time European Cup winners have emerged victorious all five times, twice after penalties.

“It hurts, I think we had a good match, but unfortunately we were missing a bit of luck,” Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak said.

Carlo Ancelotti’s team will take on Arsenal in the quarter-finals in a first clash between the clubs since 2006.

The Gunners had their quarter-final berth well and truly sealed going into the second leg of their last-16 clash against PSV Eindhoven, following a 7-1 victory in the Netherlands last week.

The clubs played to a 2-2 draw in the return at the Emirates Stadium, but Mikel Arteta’s team advanced 9-3 on aggregate.

Oleksandr Zinchenko had opened the scoring just after the half hour, Declan Rice getting a second for the hosts after Ivan Perisic had brought PSV level.

Couhaib Driouech added another for PSV with an exquisite chip as the Dutch champions exited with their heads held high.

Asensio stars again for Villa

That means there are two Premier League clubs through to the last eight, with Aston Villa defeating Club Brugge 3-0 in Birmingham to advance 6-1 on aggregate.

Those hopes of a comeback were shown little of the respect they merited, though, as the Belgians’ chances were all but extinguished when Kyriani Sabbe picked up a straight red card for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity after just 17 minutes.

Marco Asensio was Villa’s hero as he emerged from the bench at half-time to score two goals in the second half, taking his goal haul to seven in eight games since joining on loan from Paris Saint-Germain in January.

Asensio struck twice to either side of Ian Maatsen’s goal in the space of a dozen minutes early in the second half.

The 1982 European Cup winners are through to a quarter-final against Asensio’s parent club PSG — which will see Villa coach Unai Emery come up against his former side.

“It’s mad. A lot of years of hard work. Quarter-finalists of the Champions League? Can’t ask for much more,” Villa captain John McGinn said before adding: “It doesn’t get much harder than PSG over two legs.

Earlier, last season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund came from behind to defeat Lille 2-1 in France and win their last-16 tie 3-2 on aggregate.

Jonathan David put Lille got an early goal on the night, giving the French club a slight edge in the tie after last week’s 1-1 first-leg in the match.

But Emre Can leveled by converting a penalty for Dortmund on 54 minutes, and Maximilian Beier then fired in a fine winner.

Dortmund, who lost to the Catalans 3-2 at home in the league phase in December, will now next face Barcelona in the quarter-finals next month.