African decides Madrid derby, as Valverde shines in tactical skirmish

It was nothing short of a tactical war between Carlo Ancelotti and Diego Simeone, and it ended in Carletto's victory. However, this is just the first of two rounds, and Cholo will surely bounce back prepared at Wanda Metropolitano in less than a week.

Real Madrid celebrated a hard-fought 2-1 home victory against Atletico Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday night to get closer to the Champions League 1/4 finals.

We probably expected to see much more of Los Blancos' spectacular attacking duo Kylian Mbappe - Vinicius Junior, but instead we ended up with Rodrygo Goes as an early hero. The Brazilian opened the scoring inside the opening five minutes thanks to an incredible solo effort, a run and finishing that deserved nothing less than standing ovation.

Unlike the recent Manchester City tie, the hosts couldn't recreate that storm and conceded a jaw-dropping goal after another piece of undistilled brilliance, this time coming from Julian Alvarez.

The Argentine struck it magnificently past Courtois to level the score and prove he's thriving with Los Colchoneros. He scored from the spot in the last La Liga Madrid derby, which means this one tonight was the second in a row at the Bernabeu for him.

Atleti started the second half stronger before shockingly conceding against the run of play. Brahim Diaz made a fun of Jose Maria Gimenez before firing it low into the far corner before rushing to celebrate it ecstatically with the home fans.

That was the moment when Cholo decided to sub off Antoine Griezmann for defender Robin Le Normand. It was obvious that both teams were relatively happy with the outcome, especially Ancelotti, whose go-to guy Fede Valverde shined again, covering every little piece of the pitch, endlessly running and acting as a smooth operator of Real Madrid's side.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - ROUND OF 16

First leg

Tuesday

Club Brugge - Aston Villa 1-3 (1-1)

/De Cuyper 12 - Bailey 3, Mechele 82 (og), Asensio 88 pen/

Dortmund - Lille 1-1 (1-0)

/Adeyemi 22 - Haraldsson 68/

PSV - Arsenal 1-7 (1-3)

/Lang 43 - Timber 18, Nwaneri 21, Merino 31, Odegaard 47, 73 Trossard 48, Calafiori/

Real Madrid - Atl. Madrid 2-1 (1-1)

/Rodrygo 4, Diaz 55 - Alvarez 32/

Wednesday

20.45: (5.60) Feyenoord (3.70) Inter (1.65)

23.00: (1.82) Bayern (3.60) Leverkusen (4.40)

23.00: (3.80) Benfica (3.60) Barcelona (1.95)

23.00: (2.45) PSG (3.45) Liverpool (2.80)

***odds are subject to change***