Five things from the exciting Champions League action on Wednesday.

After a 120-minute fight between Real Madrid and Atletico de Madrid, the Champions League is now down to the final eight clubs.

After the most dramatic shootout, Rüdiger dismisses Atleti.

Even for the neutral, the penalty shootout was tense.

Atleti has never defeated its fierce rivals in Champions League play, yet the two teams are from the same city.

This was as dramatic as they get after Marcos Llorente and Lucas Vásquez missed, and Julian Álvarez's penalty was disallowed by VAR for a double kick.

Antonio Rüdiger, a central defender, walked up knowing that the match would be finished if he scored.

The shot had so much force that it continued into the back of the net even after Jan Oblak got a hand to it.

The competition's winners will face Arsenal in the quarterfinals.

Can they repeat the entire journey?

Super-sub Asensio

The January loan signing of Marco Asensio from PSG by Aston Villa has proven to be a brilliant move.

After substituting against Club Brugge tonight, he scored two goals, bringing his total to seven goals in his past five games in all competitions, including three against the Belgian team.

With more goals as a substitute in the Champions League than any other player in the competition's history, Asensio's exploits as a super sub in the league started long before he joined Villa.

Gallagher ignites the Metropolitano with lightning speed.

Conor Gallagher, a midfielder for Atletico Madrid, was left off the team during last week's first leg loss to cross-city rivals Real Madrid; but, manager Diego Simeone gave him the go-ahead for the rematch at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.

Within 27 seconds, the Englishman's decision paid off as he glided in to nudge the ball home, tying the score at 2-2 before the opposition could blink.

Numbers from Conor Gallagher's first half against Real Madrid:

18/20 passes were finished.
Three duels prevailed.
3x possession was gained.
Two interceptions
One goal, one shot, and one tackle

His first goal in the UCL. ♽️

With his first-ever goal in the competition, the man who Atleti supporters lovingly call "El Pitbull" became the fastest Englishman to ever score a Champions League goal and the fastest UCL strike in the club's history.

His popularity among the fans is understandable.

For the first time, Vini misses—in a fashion way.

When Real Madrid was given a penalty for a foul on Kylian Mbappé in the 70th minute, they had the opportunity to score a possible winner with the aggregate score tied at 2-2.

Vinícius Júnior, a dependable penalty taker if there ever was one, came up. He had previously scored seven goals from seven spot-kicks for Real Madrid.

To the joy of the home crowd, the Brazilian fired his kick well wide and high of the target, however it was unclear if he slipped or simply didn't make the proper contact with the ball.

Furthermore, Carlo Ancelotti, the manager, substituted him before the end of extra time, making it impossible for him to make amends in the shootout.

In Europe, Dortmund exhibits a different aspect.

Borussia Dortmund is now in 10th place in the Bundesliga after suffering 10 losses in their first 25 games of the season.

However, they are a different story in the Champions League, defeating Lille 3-2 to go to the quarterfinals after falling behind 2-1 in their match.

After Nuri Sahin left at the end of January, Niko Kovač took over as manager of the team with the best away record in the Champions League. Only Louis Van Gaal (14), Pep Guardiola, and Erik ten Hag (11 apiece) have a longer winning run than the former Wolfsburg manager, who won six and drew two of his eight UCL games with the victory over Lille.

Perhaps their best bet for 2025 is to concentrate on Europe.

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