Two Real Madrid stars rejected penalty shootout calls vs Man City | OneFootball

Two members of the first-team setup at La Liga giants Real Madrid turned down the chance to step up to the penalty spot in the club’s shootout showdown with Manchester City on Wednesday night.

That’s according to Relevo, who have on Thursday provided an insight into some of the finer details of how things played out in the latter stages at The Etihad.

Real, of course, are fresh off booking their spot in the semi-finals of the Champions League.

As much comes after a 4-4 aggregate stalemate with reigning champions Man City saw Los Blancos hold their nerve from the spot, to clinch a 4-3 penalty shootout triumph.

On target from 12 yards were the quartet of Jude Bellingham, Lucas Vázquez, Nacho, and Antonio Rüdiger – Luka Modrić the only Real star to miss.

As alluded to above, though, had things played out as originally intended, two other members of Carlo Ancelotti’s ranks could well have stepped up instead.

As per the aforementioned Relevo, prior to the shootout taking place, Blancos assistant manager Davide Ancelotti sought out two players – Federico Valverde and Éder Militão – to ask if they were ready to play their respective parts in the shootout.

Both, however, rejected, for understandable reasons.

In the case of the former, he was simply too fatigued from the 120 minutes at The Etihad, whilst stopper Militão made clear that compatriot and Manchester City shot-stopper Ederson is familiar with his penalty technique.

Real, in turn, shifted their plans, and it is certainly hard to argue with the results…

Conor Laird | GSFN