Real Madrid 3-1 (4-1 on agg.) Atalanta
Real Madrid have been a shadow of their once-dominant selves for long stretches this season. But Los Blancos turned in a vintage performance as they eased past Atalanta 3-1 in their round-of-16 second leg to return to the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in three years.
Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos, who both missed the first leg due to injury, were instrumental as they scored the goals that effectively sealed the tie. Marco Asensio then added a third shortly after Luis Muriel grabbed a late consolation for an overmatched Atalanta side.
Much like Liverpool in their triumph over Leipzig, Real Madrid reminded everyone with their impressive showing that their Champions League 2021 odds to win the competition for the 14th time should by no means be discounted.
Highlights of the game
Atalanta started the match brightly enough as they got a good sight on goal just three minutes in. Luis Muriel sent in a great cross toward Robin Gosens, who had made his way into the six-yard box. But the German wing-back couldn’t connect cleanly enough to beat Thibaut Courtois.
It took Real until the 27th minute to create their first notable attacking move of the match. Vinicius Junior and Benzema combined well, and while the former found the opening for a shot, it was well-blocked by an Atalanta defender.
Real would get the opening goal just seven minutes later, though. Atalanta keeper Marco Sportiello made a dreadful mistake while trying to play out from the back as his pass went straight to Luka Modric, who then set up Benzema for a simple tap-in.
Ruslan Malinovskiy, who was starting for the suspended Remo Freuler, had Atalanta’s closest chance to equalise before half-time, but his long-range shot went well wide.
Real should have really scored their second goal five minutes into the second half. Starting from well inside his own half, Vinicius went on a brilliant run as he took on virtually the entire Atalanta defence only to put his finish just wide.
But Vinicius would redeem himself later on as he would win the penalty that led to Real’s second. It was questionable whether Vinicius was actually fouled inside the penalty area, but the VAR upheld the call.
Unsurprisingly, Sergio Ramos stepped up to the spot and once again made no mistake to score Real’s second goal, which all but clinched the tie.
Duvan Zapata had a good chance to pull one back on 67 minutes, but Courtois denied the Colombian striker with a fine leg save.
Real then came back the other end and nearly scored themselves. Lucas Vazquez sent in a brilliant cross to Benzema, whose header forced a fine save from Sportiello. Benzema followed up with another head on the rebound, only to see hit come off the post.
Zapata had another great chance foiled by the legs of Courtois with a quarter-hour left. But it would be their other Colombian striker, Luis Muriel, who would find the way past Courtois as he curled a gorgeous free-kick past the big Belgian keeper.
However, Real would add one more entry to their list of Champions League 2021 highlights with a third goal just moments after the restart. Vazquez made a great run toward the edge of the box before passing off to substitute Marco Asensio, who neatly slotted the ball past Sportiello.
It was a fitting way to cap off a vintage performance from the Spanish champions, who are back in the quarter-finals for the first time in three years.
Key statistics
Real Madrid are through to the quarter-finals of the European Cup/Champions League for the 17th time, which is third all-time behind Bayern Munich and Barcelona, who are tied with 18. While Barca have already been knocked out of this year’s competition, Bayern look to be on their way back to the last eight as they take a 4-1 lead into their second leg against Lazio.
Benzema was brilliant once again as he scored in his fifth game in a row, including all three since returning from injury. He now has five goals in six Champions League appearances and has 21 goals on the season.
Meanwhile, Sergio Ramos added another goal to his already impressive penalty record. He has now scored 30 out of his 35 career penalties, although it is just his second penalty in the Champions League.
What’s next?
As SBOTOP and the rest of the world awaits the quarter-final draw in a few days’ time, Real Madrid will turn their attention to the La Liga title race, where they travel to Celta Vigo this weekend.
As for Atalanta, they will now look to secure qualification for next year’s Champions League after crashing out of this year’s competition. They are currently in fourth place heading into the weekend, where they will face Verona.
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