Real Madrid have moved through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League courtesy of a 4-1 win over CSKA Moscow tonight.
The Spanish league leaders went into their home leg 1-1 after the opening fixture in Russia but produced four goals in a typical performance at the Santiago Bernabeu which saw them move through to the final eight with a 5-2 aggregate win.
Gonzalo Higuain opened the scoring for Jose Mourinho's men in the 26th minute when the Argentine slotted home Kaka's low cross from close range to give the home side a one-goal lead at half-time.
Ten minutes into the second term, Madrid were two ahead when Cristiano Ronaldo let fly with a dipping shot from 35 yards which moved very late and managed to find its way past CSKA keeper Sergey Chepchugov.
15 minutes later, Madrid were well on their way when substitute Karim Benzema, who had come on less than a minute earlier, received a low pass from Mesut Ozil before having his initial shot blocked by Chepchugov and then following up with a goalbound toe-poke to make it 3-0.
CSKA were able to grab a consolation goal in the 77th minute and it came in great fashion when Zoran Tosic cut inside from the left before unleashing a perfect left-footed volley from just outside the area which went in off the underside of the crossbar.
However, Real grabbed a fourth deep into injury-time when Ronaldo netted his sixth Champions League goal of the season with a simple finish after Esteban Granero had found Benzema and the striker laid it off for the Portuguese superstar.
UEFA Champions League Round of 16 - second lef
Real Madrid (ESP): 4 (Gonzalo Higuain 26', Cristiano Ronaldo 55'/90+4', Karim Benzema 70') (*Real win 5-2 on aggregate) CSKA Moscow (RUS): 1
(Zoran Tosic 77') Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid - 70,000
Yellow cards:MAD - Xabi Alonso 50' CSKA - Sergey Chepchugov 15', Vasilii Berezutski 32, Ahmed Musa 39', Pavel Mamaev 84'
