A brace from Cristiano Ronaldo helped Real Madrid secure a 3-1 victory on the night and a huge 9-2 aggregate scoreline in their favour, at the expense of Schalke. Ronaldo opened the scoring after 21 minutes and hit his second of the night after the interval, which Alvaro Morata then added to moments later. Earlier, Tim Hoogland had equalised for the Germans with a curling effort that was helped on it's way by a big deflection. Real Madrid were far less dominant than they were in the first leg but they could afford to be with a 6-1 scoreline already in the bag, though they still took the lead twenty-one minutes into the match when Cristiano Ronaldo converted substitute Gareth Bale's low delivery. The Welshman had been elected to sit on the bench for the beginning of the match, with this weekends huge El Clasico match in mind, but Ancelotti's hand was forced when young Jese Rodriguez was stretched off with a cruciate ligament injury that spells the end for his season. Ten minutes after Ronaldo had opened the scoring Schalke pulled level. Tim Hoogland's effort from 20-yards took a big hit off Sergio Ramos and curled beyond the reach of Iker Casillas, who continued his cup run in goal. In the second-half, Madrid's youngsters continued to impress and had several chances to take the lead again, only to be denied by some brilliant stops by the travelling keeper. However, it was only a matter of time until the hosts found the net again. Ronaldo embarked on a 30-yard run before drilling home to cap off a superb move. Then, a minute later, Alvaro Morata swept home after Ronaldo had hit the bar. The frame of the goal also denied the Portuguese ace later on, though he will still have the chance to break Lionel Messi's Champions League goal record. The victory seals Real Madrid's place in the quarter-finals and asserts them as huge contenders for glory this season, as the giants look to lift their tenth European Cup and put their name back on the trophy that has escaped their grasp since the early stages of the millennia. For Schalke, it was always going to be a difficult task after they were dismantled in the first leg but they can look forward to a similar expedition in the competition next year. For now, they must focus on a crucial Bundesliga clash with Borussia Dortmund next weekend.
Josh has had work featured in the Evening Gazette and on Newcastle United website. He is a Multimedia Journalism student at Teesside University and runs a successful sports blog. He also enjoys films, comics and TV, writing about anything he can. Josh has recently started writing his first of what he hopes will be many books.
