Vinicius Junior's historic penalty miss: Real Madrid advance past Atletico Madrid to set up quarter-final tie against Arsenal

Vinicius Junior's penalty miss for Real Madrid against Atletico Madrid was the first time that he missed any spot kick - excluding shootouts - having scored his previous seven.

Atletico scored after just 27 seconds, with Connor Gallagher eliminating Los Blancos' Champions League round of 16 first-leg lead almost instantaneously.

Real created little in the final third, but Kylian Mbappe danced through Atletico's defence in the second half to earn his side a penalty, though Vinicius Junior blazed his effort over the bar.

The Brazilian's miss was ultimately not costly give his side eventually won a controversial penalty shootout to advance into the quarter-finals of the Champions League, with a clash against Arsenal in early April set to take place.

Vinicius Junior will hope to put the miss behind him, and given Real's track record in the competition, it is not unfair to suggest that the Spanish side are favourites to beat Arsenal.

Drama! 😮

Vinicius Jr misses a penalty for Real Madrid for the first time (excluding shootouts), having scored his previous seven.#BBCFootball #UCL pic.twitter.com/S2qdc9W0v5

— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) March 12, 2025

Can Real beat Arsenal and win the Champions League?

Real Madrid started the season slowly, with boss Carlo Ancelotti having to accommodate Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior in the same team despite both preferring to play out wide on the left.

Mbappe blanked in front of goal in three of his first four matches in the Spanish capital, and scored just once in his first five Champions League fixtures for the club.

However, the Frenchman has found the back of the net six times in his past six in Europe's premier club competition and has scored 28 goals and provided four assists for Los Blancos this term.

Arsenal have kept just two clean sheets in their nine most recent fixtures, and it should be noted that they have struggled when defending against direct opponents such as West Ham United and Manchester United.

The Gunners could have the likes of Bukayo Saka back in the team by the time the first leg is played, but the Englishman would have only recently returned from a serious hamstring injury.

Arsenal's attack has looked particularly blunt without Saka, so Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois should be confident that he can keep the Londoners at bay.