This season’s UEFA Champions League quarterfinals are set following the last four round of 16 second leg matches on Wednesday.
Trophy holder and record 15-time European champ Real Madrid topped crosstown rival Atlético Madrid on penalty kicks in the day’s most hotly anticipated contest.
Atléti won the match at home 1-0 to send the home-and-home, total-goals-wins series to the tiebreaker, where Real Madrid center back Antonio Rüdiger ended it from 12 yards after Julian Alvarez and Marcos Llorente missed for Diego Simeone’s men.
Earlier, German club Borussia Dortmund overcame last week’s failure to win home in front of its “yellow wall” of diehards, responding with a 2-1 victory over Lille in France to take the home and home, total goals wins series.
And in England, the final remaining Premier League representatives both took care of business as Arsenal and Aston Villa completed their aggregate routs of PSV Eindhoven and Club Brugge, respectively.
Here are three quick thoughts on Wednesday’s games.
Real Madrid does it again
Even when Europe’s most decorated club loses, it finds a way to win. Atlético’s Conor Gallagher scored the only goal of Wednesday’s affair less than a minute in, but not even a missed second-half penalty kick by Brazilian superstar Vini Jr. could prevent Real from prevailing in the end.
Atléti did everything possible to get the second goal it needed to avoid extra time, outshouting the visitors 17-10 (8-3 on target).
But just like they have on other occasions in recent years in the Champions League knockout phase, Real Madrid rode their luck. And had Alvarez’s seemingly successful shootout attempt not been overturned by the video assistant, who spotted a double-touch as the Argentine striker slipped just before his kick, the outcome might well have been different.
Who are we kidding? While the result might disappoint neutrals who are sick of seeing Real hoist Europe’s most coveted piece of silverware every other year, nobody can be surprised. Winning is what Real Madrid does in the Champions Leagie. Of course they survived. And of course they remain the favorites to claim yet another title this May.
Dortmund shows character in Lille comeback
Lille’s players probably thought they did the hard part by securing a 1-1 tie last week at the 81,000-seat Westfalenstadion.
So when Canadian striker Jonathan David gave the hosts a 1-0 lead (and 2-1 advantage on aggregate) just five minutes into the return leg at Stade Pierre-Mauroy about 125 miles north of Paris, Lille supporters could’ve been forgiven for dreaming of the last 8.
And why not? Dortmund has been dreadful in domestic play all season. BVB sits 10th in the Bundesliga. They changed managers midseason. It would’ve been easy for the visitors to crumble.
Instead, last year’s losing finalists showed some of the fight that got them all the way to club soccer’s most important game last year against the odds. Not long after veteran defender Emre Can converted the equalizer from the penalty spot early in the second half, Maximilian Beier stroked home the winner with a beautiful shot that stood up as the decisive goal:
Dortmund will now meet Barcelona next month with a trip back to the semis on the line.
Arsenal, Aston Villa now carry England’s hopes
Wednesday’s Gunners-PSV match in London was rendered anticlimactic when Arsenal hung a 7-1 whooping on the Dutch side last week; Arsenal fans won’t even care that the visitors salvaged some pride with a 2-2 draw — Mikel Arteta’s side is back among Europe’s best eight clubs for the second year running.
Villa supporters, on the other hand, are in dreamland. Just qualifying for the Champions League was a triumph for a club that spent three seasons toiling in England’s second tier from 2016-19.
Getting one of the weaker foes left in the field didn’t hurt, but Unai Emery’s team earned it, too, following last week’s 3-1 win over Brugge in Belgium with a 3-0 drubbing on Wednesday in Birmingham.
With Manchester City shockingly eliminated before the round of 16 and Liverpool almost as surprisingly bounced prior to the quarters, its up to either the Gunners or Villains to become the first English club to reach the Champions League final since 2023.
It won’t be easy: Emery & Co. will face Paris Saint-Germain, while in Arsenal’s way stands mighty Real Madrid.
Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports who has covered the United States men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him at @ByDougMcIntyre.
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