Karim Benzema’s extra-time penalty followed up a stunning brace by Rodrygo in stoppage time, which cancelled out a late Riyad Mahrez strike that looked set to send City through.
Marca dubbed the night the “greatest in the history of the Bernabeu” as the fans “always believed” in a comeback that was sparked by the young Brazilian’s first goal – leading to City seeing “shadows, ghosts, witches” as they faded out of the game.
“If PSG was already inexplicable, if Chelsea was already incredible, last night in Chamartin was, simply, the best night of a stadium that has seen this team in all colours and that is a lot to say,” added the Madrid daily’s lead story.
Fellow Spanish capital newspaper AS exclaimed “Madrid are from another world” with several outlets reporting on Toni Kroos calling the club “a f****** joke” for the sheer audacity of their comebacks.
But Cadena SER journalist Antonio Romero made a point of praising the youngsters behind the win, saying: “The kids conquered the match; Vincius, Rodrygo, [Eduardo] Camavinga, [Fede] Valverde.”
Meanwhile, on the as-ever-reserved El Chiringuito program, Edu Aguirre burst into tears describing the “immortal” efforts of Los Blancos.
Mundo Deportivo’s front page read “groundhog day”, highlighting Madrid’s similar feats against Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea in the previous rounds.
However, not everyone in Spain was so delighted to see Real progress. Commentators on Barcelona radio station RAC1 were left aghast by the nature of the comeback.
“This is not football, it’s a paranormal phenomenon,” they said as the game headed for extra-time. “Inexplicable. There is no way to explain it football-wise.” The Catalans later admitted: “Only Real Madrid do this.”