Champions League: Diego Simeone casts doubt over Julian Alvarez penalty controversy as Real Madrid advance

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone cast suspicion on the decision to rule out Julian Alvarez's penalty in his team's Uefa Champions League defeat by Real Madrid on Wednesday. Los Blancos won 4-2 on penalties after a 2-2 aggregate draw in the last 16 tie, with Alvarez slipping as he scored in the shoot-out. VAR ruled it out for a supposed double touch on the ball. "The referee said when Julian got to the penalty spot he touched the ball with his standing foot, but the ball did not move," Simeone told reporters. "But beyond that, which now just serves to argue about whether it should have counted or not, I am proud of my players, I am happy, truly. "Why? Because we competed in an exemplary way. And yes, we could not beat Real Madrid in the Champions League, sure, we could not, but they had a really bad time [against us] again." Conor Gallagher's strike 27 seconds into the game at the Metropolitano Stadium had levelled the scores on aggregate. Gallagher's close-range finish cancelled out Real's 2-1 lead from the first leg last week, but the reigning champions could have progressed inside 90 minutes. They won a spot-kick midway through the second half when Kylian Mbappe was hauled down by Clement Lenglet after accelerating into the box. However, Vinicius Junior blazed his kick high over the bar, and the game went to extra time and then penalties with no further scoring. The shoot-out hinged on Alvarez's second penalty for Atletico, which he converted. However, a VAR check indicated that he had touched the ball with his standing foot as he slipped before striking to score. The penalty was disallowed and while Lucas Vazquez later missed for Real, Marcos Llorente hit the bar for Atletico, and it was Antonio Rudiger's effort which squirmed in that proved to be the winner. "We went to penalties, by the end we were very tired, it was very noticeable and thank God we won," Real's Federico Valverde told broadcaster Movistar. The record 15-time European Cup winners have now played Atletico in five separate Champions League ties in the last 12 seasons, and come out on top every time, twice on penalties. "It hurts, I think we played a great match, but unfortunately we lacked a bit of luck," said Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak. Carlo Ancelotti's side will face Arsenal in the last eight in what will be the first meeting of the clubs since 2006. The Gunners' progress to a second straight quarter-final was never in doubt going into the second leg against PSV Eindhoven, after a 7-1 win in the Netherlands last week . The clubs drew 2-2 in the return at the Emirates Stadium, allowing Mikel Arteta's Arsenal to advance 9-3 on aggregate. Oleksandr Zinchenko put Arsenal ahead early on the night with a fine strike and Declan Rice got a second for the hosts after Ivan Perisic had equalised for PSV. Couhaib Driouech scored another for PSV with a magnificent chip as the Dutch champions went out with their heads held high. There are two English clubs into the last eight, with Aston Villa beating Club Brugge 3-0 in Birmingham to secure a 6-1 aggregate triumph. The Belgian side's hopes of a comeback were effectively doused when Kyriani Sabbe was shown a straight red card for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity just 17 minutes in. Marco Asensio was Villa's star as he came off the bench at half time to score twice in the second half, taking his tally of goals to seven in eight games since signing on loan from Paris Saint-Germain in January. All Villa's goals came in the space of 12 minutes early in the second half, with Asensio netting twice either side of an Ian Maatsen strike. The 1982 European Cup winners face a quarter-final against Asensio's parent club PSG, which will mean Villa coach Unai Emery facing his former side. "It's mad. A lot of years of hard work. Champions League quarter-finalists? Can't ask for much more," said Villa captain John McGinn. "It doesn't get much harder than PSG over two legs." Earlier, last season's beaten finalists Borussia Dortmund fought back to beat Lille 2-1 in France and win 3-2 on aggregate. Jonathan David gave Lille an early lead, putting the French club ahead in the tie after last week's 1-1 draw. Emre Can squared things by converting a penalty for Dortmund on 54 minutes and Maximilian Beier fired in a fine winner. Dortmund will face Barcelona in the quarter-finals next month, having lost 3-2 at home to the Catalans during the league phase in December.

Champions League: Diego Simeone casts doubt over Julian Alvarez penalty controversy as Real Madrid advance

Atletico lose shoot-out 4-2 after VAR rules out Alvarez spot kick for double touch of the ball