Real Madrid progressed into the last eight on an evening far less comfortable than the 4-0 aggregate scoreline suggests.
Roma had plenty of chances to put the tie on a knife edge but woeful finishing let the hosts off the hook, and strikes from Cristiano Ronaldo – his 40th of the season in all competitions – and James Rodriguez put the outcome beyond doubt.
The visiting team’s procession of chances started after 13 minutes when a right wing burst from Mohamed Salah created a great chance for Edin Dzeko, but the Bosnian striker showed no composure and hacked his shot horribly wide.
The next big chance of the game fell for Salah, who was allowed to break through the middle and advance one on one against Keylor Navas but could only curl his shot into the side-netting.
And Salah, whose pace running with the ball regularly troubled Sergio Ramos, had yet another good opportunity before the break, latching onto a low left wing cross to steer his shot goalwards but it lacked the power to trouble Navas.
We're on our way to the Champions League quarter-finals! ?⚽?#RMUCL #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/JrrQc1ZD15
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) March 8, 2016
Despite conceding those chances, Madrid were dominating possession and looking dangerous going forward as manager Zinedine Zidane experimented with a newlook 4-3-3 formation featuring Ronaldo at the point of attack.
Long-range strikes from Ronaldo and the influential Luka Modric forced Wojciech Szczesny into smart low saves, but the home team’s clearest opening of the first half came when Gareth Bale, looking sharp on the left wing, threaded a ball through for Ronaldo, who was well denied by Szczesny racing quickly off his line to smother.
Roma wasted another glorious chance early in the second period when Dzeko played Salah clean through and, once again, he could only fire wide. And with the Italian team continuing to look the more likely scorers, Navas was soon forced into a pair of low saves as Alessandro Florenzi and Kostas Manolas showed their forwards how to do it by shooting on target.
The game was opening up as Roma took chances in pursuit of the opener, allowing the home team to look increasingly dangerous on the break, and they finally made the tie safe through a familiar source as substitute Lucas Vazquez crossed well from the right and Ronaldo volleyed home from close range.
Madrid soon showed their counter-attacking prowess again, with Ronaldo running into space before feeding James, whose crisp low strike went through Szczesny’s legs at the near post. And there was still time for one more Navas save as he denied Diego Perotti.
Very very happy that we are in the quarter-finals of the @ChampionsLeague. pic.twitter.com/sZnL9FFp3A
— Dante Bonfim Costa (@dante_bonfim) March 8, 2016
Elsewhere, Andre Schurrle fired Wolfsburg into the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time to seal a 1-0 victory and a 4-2 aggregate win over Gent.
Having lost the first-leg 3-2 at home, Gent arrived in Germany needing to score at least twice but Schurrle ended their hopes with a goal 16 minutes from time.
It was his Germany team-mate Julian Draxler, who scored twice in the first-leg, who danced around Gent defender Nana Asare to provide the cross which Schurrle drilled home.
