Real Madrid tops Man City in penalty shootout, Bayern outlasts Arsenal in Champions League

Real Madrid successfully advanced to the UEFA Champions League semifinals for the fourth year in a row by eliminating the defending champions Manchester City at their home ground. The nail-biting encounter on Wednesday evening concluded with Real Madrid triumphing 4-3 in a penalty shootout, following a 4-4 aggregate score over the two legs. This victory secured Real Madrid’s 17th appearance in the semifinals, where they will compete against Bayern Munich. On the same night, Bayern Munich secured their semifinal spot by defeating Arsenal 1-0, clinching the series 3-2 on aggregate.

**Real Madrid Seeks Redemption**
After last year’s semifinal defeat to Man City, Real Madrid was determined to change the narrative this season. Rodrygo opened the scoring in the 12th minute after collecting a well-placed pass from the side. Although his first shot was blocked by City’s goalkeeper Ederson, Rodrygo promptly netted the rebound, giving Real a 1-0 lead.

Despite Real’s early goal, Manchester City dominated possession for the majority of the game but struggled to penetrate Real’s solid defense. The equalizer came in the 76th minute when Kevin de Bruyne scored after Phil Foden’s attempt was not effectively cleared by Real’s defenders.

De Bruyne missed a crucial opportunity in the 80th minute to secure the win and the tie, sending his shot over the bar. The game proceeded to extra time with the score locked at 1-1, where both teams played cautiously, leading to a penalty shootout.

The shootout saw a rocky start for Real Madrid with Modric missing the first shot, while Julian Alvarez scored for City. However, successive misses by Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic tilted the advantage back to Real Madrid, with Antonio Rüdiger sealing the victory by scoring the decisive penalty.

**Bayern Munich Ends Arsenal’s Run**
In another quarterfinal match, Bayern Munich ousted Arsenal from the competition with a 1-0 victory, courtesy of a first-half goal by Joshua Kimmich. The aggregate win of 3-2 secured Bayern Munich’s spot in the semifinals against Real Madrid, intensifying the race to the final at Wembley.