Real Madrid qualify for the quarter finals of the Champions league with a 3-1 victory over Atalanta

Real Madrid qualify for the quarter finals of the Champions league with a 3-1 victory over Atalanta
Sergio Ramos and Vazquez celebrate after the former converted his penalty

Real Madrid have qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions league with an emphatic 3-1 victory over Atalanta in the 2nd leg. Madrid went out winners on a 3-1 aggregate score-line over the two legs against tough Italian opponents.

Goals from Karim Benzema, Sergio Ramos and Asensio rounded off a perfect night for the Madrid side. Real Madrid had failed to qualify for the Champions league quarters in the last 2 years.

Real Madrid are into the quarter final stages of the Champions league after a 2 year hiatus

Karim Benzema scored the opener for Real Madrid

Zidane used a new 3-5-2 system with Varane, Ramos and Nacho at the back and used Mendy and Vazquez as the wing-backs. The system clearly worked for Madrid as they countered Atalanta’s early pressure and grew in confidence as the match progressed.

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Madrid endured Atalanta’s high press and played out from the back with relative ease which enabled them to find spaces in behind Atalanta’s defence. Benzema opened the scoring for Madrid when Modric pounced on Sportiello’s misguided clearance and fed the ball into the striker’s path. Benzema had an open goal to aim at and never looked like missing.

Vinicius Jr. had one of his best games as a Real Madrid player as he used the wide open spaces to his advantage and cut open Atalanta’s defence on more than one occasion. He came very close to scoring a sensational goal when he ran from inside his half dribbling past most of Atalanta’s players only to miss the target with his final attempt.

Vinicius Jr. produced his best performance in a Real Madrid shirt

However, his speed came in handy when he drew a penalty from Toloi who stuck his foot out inside the box. Ramos converted from the resultant spot kick to give Madrid a 2-0 lead on the night. Courtois, who did not have much to do throughout the match produced a stunning save from Zapata in the 76th minute to keep the score 2-0.

Luis Muriel pulled one back for Atalanta in the 81st minute. He scored from a well worked free-kick right on the edge of the Real Madrid penalty box to give the Italians a glimmer of hope. However, their comeback hopes lasted less than a minute as Asensio scored at the other end with almost his first touch after coming on as Vazquez provided him with the assist.

Marco Asensio put the final nail in Atalanta’s coffin scoring the 3rd goal of the match

The 3rd Real Madrid goal put out any hopes of a dramatic Italian comeback in the final 10 minutes. Real Madrid were the better team on the night and could have scored more if had they been more clinical in attack.

Real Madrid have now qualified into the quarter finals of the Champions league along with Paris, Liverpool, Porto, Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City. The other 2 quarter finalists will be decided on Wednesday.

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