A Real slice of luck as Atletico slips up

Bellingham's praise

Madrid's Jude Bellingham was quick to praise his teammates' mental resilience.

The England international netted one of Real's four successful penalties in the shootout, as it set up a last-eight clash against the north London Premier League outfit.

"That's sometimes what it takes, those moments of composure and poise. It's not always the mad quality that you see from us," the 21-year-old told TNT.

"There is a change of mentality when we come into these games, we know that there's a certain way of winning games.

"We're very good at that. We understand game situations really well, and tonight was another example."

Real had turned on the style to beat Manchester City in its playoff clash to reach the knockout phase, beating the Premier League champion 6-3 on aggregate.

Against Atletico, in the raucous home of its rival, it was stunned inside a minute as Conor Gallagher scored for the host to level the tie on aggregate.

But Ancelotti's side dug its heels in, as the game drifted through normal time and extra time with Atletico unable to capitalize on its flying start.

Real then got served a huge slice of luck, as Julian Alvarez scored Atletico's second penalty, but then had his effort ruled out because he had slipped and inadvertently touched the ball twice.

Although Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak saved Lucas Vazquez's penalty, a miss by Marcos Llorente allowed Antonio Rudiger to squeeze the decisive penalty past Oblak, sparking jubilation among the Real players and supporters.

"Really happy. It's a huge game for us to win," Bellingham said. "It's massive for us, so important for us to get through at this stage. It will mean a lot to the fans because of who we were playing against."