REAL MADRID were left breathing a sigh of relief after seeing off Atletico on penalties following a 2-2 aggregate draw.
Kylian Mbappe was one of the players who coolly converted his spot kick in the shootout – but he was reportedly unwilling to take one during the game.
Vinicius Jr then stepped up in Mbappe’s place after the World Cup winner was fouled by Clement Lenglet.
And the Brazilian blasted the ball so far wide that it may well have missed if there were two goals.
But after the match, Guillem Balague claimed that Mbappe is still the designated penalty taker.
The LaLiga TV reporter said: “Real Madrid won a penalty but Kylian Mbappe was not right. He struggled with his ankle and with a toenail that is coming off.
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“You had the penalty missed by Vinicius Jr in normal time. Mbappe said to Vinicius, ‘I don’t feel like kicking this, I am not ready’ and walked away from it, Vini took it and it went high.”
Balague also said: “There was a typical exchange of strong words in the tunnel after the match, but nothing different to what happens after every match.”
However, it was not clear if he was referring to an exchange between the Real Madrid and Atletico players or among the Real Madrid squad internally.
Vinicius was subbed off in extra time and therefore unable to take a penalty in the shootout – a decision that appeared to have paid dividends for Carlo Ancelotti.
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Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Fede Valverde all scored with well-placed spot kicks before Lucas Vazquez saw his kick saved by Jan Oblak.
But Toni Rudiger then stepped up to score the fifth penalty and win one of the most controversial shootouts in history for Real.
Julian Alvarez slotted Atletico Madrid’s second penalty into the roof of the net but VAR then adjudged the Argentine to have kicked the ball twice before it went in, meaning the kick had to be marked down as a miss.
Marcos Llorente then blasted his penalty onto the bar which gave Rudiger the chance to win it.
Ironically, the man who replaced Vinicius Jr – fellow Brazilian Endrick – was also taken off penalty duties by Carlo Ancelotti.
The Italian said: “We had a doubt, who should have taken the penalty between Endrick or Rudiger.
“We wanted Endrick, but then I saw his face and decided Rudiger was the better option.”
