The night drew to a close on Thursday (12) as the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores took place on Saudi Arabian soil. Real Madrid and Valencia battled it out for 120 minutes, with the score tied at 1-1, but Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois came up with a crucial goal to save Valencia from penalties and advance to the final between Betis and Barcelona, 4-3.
Despite the overall performance of the Real Madrid players, Binschmar became the second senior goal scorer in the history of the Liga MX, behind teammate Modriki (36 years and 129 days), when he won a penalty with a clever scramble inside the box and scored himself in the 39th minute. Late in the half, Valencia's Semmelianu equalized with a low shot at the near post. After that, neither side could do anything and the winner had to be decided by a penalty shootout.
In the penalty shootout, Real Madrid's four shooters, Binschmar, Mordecai, Chios and Mago Assinsio, all hit the target, while Valencia shot high in the second round of Gomart, and in the crucial fifth round, Jose Gaye's shot from the middle of the field was parried, and Real Madrid won the penalty shootout 4-3 to advance to the final. After the match, the MVP awarded Tepat Gauthier exclaimed, "In fact, we didn't practice penalty kicks in particular, but I watched the opponent's video and found that Jose Gaye always chose the right or the middle of the shot before, and this time I luckily chose the middle of the shot, and I hope that in the final, we will be able to win without using penalty kicks!"
