Atletico Madrid – Real Madrid: Real Controversially Win Madrid Derby On Penalties To Keep Champions League Hopes Alive (1-0, 2-4 After Penalties)

Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid side eventually won on penalties against arch city rivals Atletico in the Madrid derby to keep their hopes of retaining the Champions League alive. A goal from Conor Gallagher inside the first minute levelled the tie on aggregate. But after normal time & extra time in a seesawing contest, Real went through after the penalty shootout with Antonio Rudiger scoring the winning penalty while a controversial decision against Julian Alvarez left Atleti biting the dust. 

Tactical analysis and match report by Gaurav Krishnan.

“Pressure is not about football,” said Antonio Rudiger in his article in conversation with The Player Tribune. “Pressure is not knowing what you will eat tomorrow. I mean …….. Pressure??? No, no, no.” “Every time I feel the slightest pressure when I lace up my boots before a football match, I think about a specific memory, and I am instantly at peace.”

Rudiger’s reflection of hailing from Sierra Leone before moving to Germany & the everyday struggles of people in the African region not knowing where their next meal will come from made him realise that “pressure” in football was nothing. 

Under the lights of the Metropolitano against Atletico Madrid on this particular night in this clutch Champions League tie, you could see Rudiger striding his way back into his own box & making a telling block of a cross by Correa which would have resulted in a tap in for Alexander Sorloth. This was in the first half of extra time, in the 91st minute, after a . . .