Real Madrid have taken a giant step towards the quarter-finals of the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League.
The Spanish giants, who won the European title last season, comfortably accounted for German side Schalke 2-0 at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen on Wednesday night.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his sixth goal of this season's competition when heading home Dani Carvajal's cross in the 26th minute to give Carlo Ancelotti's side the advantage.
Schalke had created a couple of chances but the tie was put beyond doubt in the 79th minute when Ronaldo, who had beaten two defenders, fed Marcelo with the Brazilian full-back taking a touch before lofting beyond Schalke keeper Timon Wellenreuther.
The victory was Real's 10th in a row in Europe's premier club competition and has them perfectly placed to progress to the final eight ahead of the return leg at the Santiago Bernabeu on March 10.
In Wednesday night's other fixture, FC Basel and FC Porto drew 1-1 at St Jakob-Park with the two sides trading goals either side of the break.
20-year old Paraguay international Derlis Gonzalez gave the Swiss champions the ascendency in just the 11th minute when firing beneath Fabiano only to see the Portuguese side hit back with 11 minutes remaining.
Porto grabbed a vital away goal in the 79th minute when Walter Samuel handled the ball in his own defensive area which allowed Danilo to step up and beat Basel's Tomas Vaclik from the penalty spot.
The return between Basel and Porto will take place at Estadio do Dragao on March 10 with the Portuguese side holding a slight advantage.
Next week sees Manchester City and Barcelona do battle at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, February 24, the same night as Borussia Dortmund head to Juventus, while Arsenal host Monaco on the Wednesday as Atletico Madrid take on Bayer Leverkusen in Germany.
2014/15 UEFA Champions League - Round of 16 first leg
Schalke (GER): 0 Real Madrid (SPN): 2 (Cristiano Ronaldo 26', Marcelo 79') Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany - 54,442
FC Basel (SUI): 1 (Derlis Gonzalez 11') FC Porto (POR): 1 (Danilo (p') 79') St Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland - 34,464
