Cristiano Ronaldo’s 90th UEFA Champions League goal clinched Real Madrid’s spot in the quarterfinals.
Led by dangerous but wasteful Mohamed Salah and a virtuoso job between the sticks by Wojciech Szczesny, Roma put in an hour that could’ve won a historic win for i Lupi at the Bernabeu.
But Ronaldo and James Rodriguez spurred Real to a 2-0 win on the night and a 4-0 win on aggregate.
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Edin Dzeko has missed some absolute sitters this season at Roma, and he kept it up at the Bernabeu on Tuesday when he missed a prime chance to give i Lupi a road goal.
And Mohamed Salah was 1v1 with Keylor Navas on a counter attack sprung from a controversial Lucas Digne tackle, but the ex-Chelsea man had his angle shriveled by Navas and curled his effort badly wide.
Real upped its attack as the first half wore on, Ronaldo the most dangerous man for Los Merengues. Wojciech Szczesny was ready, and had a few key saves in an entertaining first half.
[ MORE: Champions League schedule ]27 - @Cristiano Ronaldo has made 27 assists in #UCL, at least 4 more than any other current player (Iniesta and Messi, 23). Supportive.
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) March 8, 2016
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Salah blew another golden chance in the second half, and Navas stopped a good shot from Florenzi in the 57th minute.
Lucas then crossed into the box off a feed from Luca Modric, and Ronaldo buried his chance. James scored between Szczesny’s legs from a very acute angle moments later to make it 4-0.