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Real Madrid can thank the quick actions of Kylian Mbappe for their penalty shootout triumph over city rivals Atletico.
Los Blancos once again found a way to get the job done in the Champions League by seeing off Diego Simeone’s men despite losing 1-0 on the night.
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A 2-2 aggregate scoreline after extra time saw the La Liga duo do battle from the penalty spot but things quickly took a peculiar turn.
Atletico striker Alexander Sorloth converted his spot kick between Mbappe and Bellingham’s conversions but Real’s took a giant step towards the quarter-finals after Julian Alvarez slipped whilst taking his penalty.
Replays appeared to show the former Manchester City man making contact with the ball twice before the ball sailed past Thibault Courtois.
According to the IFAB (International Football Association Board) rules of the game, law 14.1 covers penalties.
It states: "The kicker must not play the ball again until it has touched another player."
Few in the stadium were aware of the Argentine’s error unlike the eagle-eyed Mbappe who immediately signalled to referee Szymon Marciniak that Alvarez had inadvertently taken an extra touch.
New footage shows just how attentive the Frenchman was to what was unfolding which led to his teammates also remonstrating with the Polish official.
Mbappe can be seen holding up two fingers before uttering the words 'two touches' on multiple occasions.
VAR quickly intervened and ruled Alvarez’s penalty as a miss to the dismay of the home crowd.
Atletico were unable to see off the 15-time holders despite Brahim Diaz’s missed kick handing them a lifeline.
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Marcos Llorente subsequently crashed his spot kick off the woodwork before Antonio Rudiger wrapped up the victory for Carlo Ancelotti’s side.
Atleti boss Simeone was left seething in his post-match press conference and even invited the reporters in attendance to share their opinions.
"Did you see him touching the ball twice?” he asked. “Please whoever was present in the stadium and saw him touching the ball twice, the ball moving, please come forward and raise your hand. I don't see anybody with their hand raised so that's all I have to say… next question."
"The referee said when Julian got to the penalty spot he touched the ball with his standing foot, but the ball did not move.
"I've never seen a penalty where they've called the VAR, but well, they would have seen that he touched it. I want to believe they saw he touched it.”
Meanwhile, Ancelotti said he could see that Alvarez had touched the ball twice after watching the replay.
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"Football… It's very strange. He touches it, he takes two touches because he shoots with his right foot and touches with his left foot,” the legendary Italian said.
"I think they'd already detected it. By the time we realised this doubt, they'd already detected it from the VAR. I didn't realise this. I saw it, and it seems to me he's playing with his left foot on the second touch."
It is the sixth time Real have knocked out their neighbours in the Champions League era including wins in the 2014 and 2016 finals.
Their latest triumph over Atletico means that Arsenal stand in their way of yet another Champions League semi-final.
The Gunners eased past PSV Eindhoven 9-3 on aggregate and will host the reigning holders in the quarter-final first leg next month.
The winners of that tie will face either Paris Saint-Germain or Aston Villa in the semi-finals.
