It was by no means a classic, but Real Madrid delivered a disciplined performance to effectively book their place in the Champions League quarter-finals.
A day after facing criticism for his recent lack of goals away from home, Cristiano Ronaldo had the perfect answer by opening the scoring before substitute Jese Rodriguez added a second late on.
Roma will feel hard done by after being in the ascendancy at the start of both halves, but they were rarely able to trouble Keylor Navas and Madrid’s greater attacking quality was amply rewarded.
And on his Champions League coaching debut, Zinedine Zidane will have gained confidence his team is developing the coherent team structure to mount a serious challenge. The opening stages were closely contested, but the hosts generally looking the more dangerous team.
In particular, Mohamed Salah was threatening down the right, giving Marcelo a tough test on his return to action from a shoulder injury. But Madrid managed to quell the threat and gradually grew into the game, asserting more control over possession.
Real Madrid: 1st away win vs an Italian team since Dec. 2004 (also vs Roma).
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 17, 2016
They are a heavy favorite to advance: pic.twitter.com/dpGUtazpZa
Still, though, chances were hard to come by and the Spanish team were restricted to a couple of blocked snapshots and a dangerous dipping volley by Marcelo which flashed narrowly wide.
By now, Roma were playing more on the counter and they came close to creating a good opportunity when Stephan El Shaarawy escaped down the left wing, but Raphael Varane did well to race across and make a strong challenge.
As they had in the opening period, the hosts started the second half well and won a couple of corners with shots which deflected wide.
Madrid had barely mustered a meaningful attack after the break before they took the lead through a familiar source. Marcelo released Ronaldo, who was just onside, and he surged down the left before cutting inside to fire a right-footed shot which took a big deflection off Alessandro Florenzi to give Wojciech Szczesny no chance.
For the first time, the game started to open up with Roma seeming to have their confidence dented by falling behind, and Ronaldo squandered a golden chance to make it 2-0, nodding a header tantalisingly wide after being picked out at the far post by James. Chances began to flow at a much more rapid rate as Karim Benzema saw a close-range header blocked.
Roma then pushed for a leveller, with substitute Edin Dzeko sending an angled shot into the side-netting and captain Florenzi seeing a hopeful penalty appeal waved away. Salah wasted what could have been a great opportunity by producing a poor heavy touch as he received a pass from Miralem Pjanic.
And the Roma paid the price as Jese was given space to advance and, with Lucas Digne backing away, he took full advantage by sending a low right-footed shot into the corner from 15 yards.
Julian Draxler netted twice as Wolfsburg sealed victory at Gent to leave the Germans on course for the last eight, although the Belgians made life difficult for the Bundesliga side with a late rally.
Draxler scored either side of the break, with Max Kruse also on target, but two goals in the final 10 minutes give Gent some hope for the return leg on March 8.
Draxler was superb at the Ghelamco Arena, having also tormented Manchester United in Wolfsburg’s 3-2 win in December in the final round of group matches. His Germany team-mate Kruse added Wolfsburg’s third on 60 minutes as the Gent defence capitulated and he nearly added a fourth just moments later by hitting the woodwork.
But Wolfsburg, last season’s German Cup winners, lost their shape badly after Gent captain Sven Kums scored with 10 minutes to go before Kalifa Coulibaly added a second just before the final whistle.
