Secrets of Real Madrid’s penalty shootout victory REVEALED: identifying THREE Man City players who could move down the middle, the two stars who opted not to take a penalty – for an unusual reason – and the influence of Chelsea flop

The secrets of Real Madrid’s penalty shootout victory over Manchester City were revealed as Pep Guardiola’s hopes of a double treble were dashed.

Goalkeeper Andriy Lunin saved spot kicks from Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic early in the shootout before Antonio Rudiger intervened to put the Spaniards through.

That followed a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes of City largely dominating, with Kevin De Bruyne canceling out Rodrygo’s opener for Real.

Lunin then explained how Real had identified three City players who could place their penalties in the middle and that intuition paid off when Silva fired a terrible kick straight into his gloves.

Kovacic also sent his kick to the center and Lunin was able to get down to his right to push it away.

Lunin had made a very simple save moments earlier to deny City’s Bernardo Silva

Ukrainian goalkeeper Lunin was the hero of the moment as Real expelled the defending champions

“We prepared it with the goalkeeping coach and there were three players with whom we had doubts whether or not to stay in the middle,” Lunin told Marca afterwards.

Another factor was that some Real players actively refused to take a kick.

Luka Modric was denied by Ederson when he took Real’s first kick, but Jude Bellingham, Lucas Vazquez, Nacho and Rudiger made no mistake.

Marca said Eder Militao turned down the opportunity to take one because fellow Brazilian Ederson knows his intentions too well.

Federico Valverde was another who didn’t show up among the five designated takers because he suffered fatigue after extra time.

Instead, Modric and Vazquez, who had come on and had fresher legs, stepped up.

The role of Kepa, the goalkeeper who lost his place to Lunin a few months ago, has also been revealed.

Davide Ancelotti, the son of coach Carlo and his assistant, said Kepa helped fine-tune Real’s shooting lineup in the final minutes of extra time.

Kepa then spoke with Lunin during the break before the shootout to pass on his advice.

Kepa Arrizabalaga was seen in conversation with Lunin shortly before the shooting

Eder Militao (left) and Fede Valverde (right) were two Real players who didn’t want to take one

Antonio Rudiger appeared to tell Andriy Lunin which way Mateo Kovacic would shoot

Rudiger was mobbed by teammates after scoring the winning penalty against City

Kepa has experience of facing City in penalties – he played for Chelsea in the 2019 Carabao Cup final, refusing to be replaced by manager Maurizio Sarri with Willy Caballero late in extra time.

Although Kepa saved from Leroy Sane, City won the shootout 4-3, but the goalkeeper’s advice this time led to a little revenge.

Rudiger also helped by appearing to tell Lunin which direction Kovacic would send his penalty.

The footage showed Rudiger frantically pointing to his left – the goalkeeper’s right – moments before his former Chelsea teammate gave away his penalty.

Lunin obliged and pushed away Kovacic’s effort, putting Real Madrid on course for the semi-finals.

The Ukrainian goalkeeper later revealed that the decision to stay put had been made before the shooting.

“I had to take a risk with one of the kicks, we went for one (to stay in the middle) and thank God it worked in our favor,” Lunin said.

“It’s a Champions League away game and we’ve gone through a lot of pain… but I’m very grateful to the team for everything they’ve fought for. I can’t say anything imagine running like my teammates did today.

Rudiger stepped up to score the decisive penalty as Real Madrid reached the semi-finals

This save was the turning point in the shootout as Madrid scored their last four penalties and reached the semi-finals.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side will now face Bayern Munich in the last four after the German giants beat Arsenal 3-2 on aggregate.