JOIN USPlucky Real ride their luck
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick to send Real Madrid through to the Champions League semifinals with a 4-2 extra-time win and 6-3 aggregate success against 10-man Bayern Munich in controversial circumstances on Tuesday.
A bizarre Sergio Ramos own goal forced the extra period after Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring for Bayern from the penalty spot and Ronaldo equalised.
Marcelo twice cleared off the line for Madrid and Jerome Boateng did the same for Bayern in a thrilling game, which was tilted in Madrid's favour by Arturo Vidal's dismissal for two yellow cards, the second of which was harsh.
Ronaldo put Madrid level at 2-2 on the night in the first period of extra time when he scored his 100th Champions League goal, from a clearly offside position, before he wrapped up his treble with another disputed goal and Marco Asensio added a fourth.
Bayern began well, with Thiago Alcantara's close-range shot brilliantly blocked on the goal line by Marcelo. Arjen Robben lashed the rebound into the side-netting.
Madrid began to find their feet and were soon dominating, with the effervescent Marcelo key in both attack and defence.
Ramos nearly put the hosts ahead after the otherwise superb Manuel Neuer spilled a shot, but Boateng somehow blocked his effort on the line.
However, it was Bayern who took the lead in the second half when Casemiro fouled Robben in the area and Lewandowski dispatched the penalty.
Ronaldo levelled, heading beyond Neuer in the 76th minute from a fine cross by Casemiro, but Bayern restored overall parity within a minute when Ramos prodded into his own net after a scramble in the area. With the game heading towards extra-time Vidal was sent off for a second booking after appearing to win the ball cleanly from Asensio, leaving Bayern with 10 like in the first leg when Javi Martinez was dismissed.
It gave Madrid the upper hand going into the added 30 minutes and they took advantage when Ronaldo scored the crucial second from Ramos' cross, despite being in an offside position.
Madrid added two more late on, Ronaldo appearing fractionally offside again for their third of the night, leaving Bayern exhausted and angry.
Atletico through
Atletico Madrid proved too streetwise to entertain another Leicester City fairytale as they quelled a stirring home display to reach the semifinals for the third time in four seasons on Tuesday, winning 2-1 on aggregate.
Jamie Vardy's first goal at the King Power Stadium in the competition gave English champions Leicester hope of something special after Saul Niguez's first-half header put Atletico in control, but they fell short in an absorbing 1-1 draw.
Diego Simeone's Atletico, who arrived holding a 1-0 lead handed to them by Antoine Griezmann's penalty last week in the Spanish capital, were deserved winners but it was nervy as Leicester threw caution to the wind in the second half.
Leicester's players collapsed to the turf after a breathless second-half revival which, with a better roll of the ball, could have propelled them into dreamland.
As it is they return to the humdrum of the Premier League's mid-table with little prospect of rubbing shoulders with Europe's elite any time soon. No wonder the fans didn't want to leave.
"The momentum was with us when Jamie scored but it just wasn't to be," coach Craig Shakespeare.