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Ronaldo, Jese lift Madrid
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CRISTIANO Ronaldo ended his away scoring drought with an impressive second-half goal as Real Madrid won 2-0 at Roma on Wednesday in the first leg of the Round of 16 in the Champions League.
The victory also marked a successful debut for Zinedine Zidane as Madrid’s manager in the elite competition, with the 10-time champion taking a big step toward the quarterfinals.
It was Ronaldo’s first goal on the road since November 29, when he scored a penalty against Eibar.
“Everyone expects (Ronaldo) to score and today he was able to,” Zidane said. “I’m happy for these two away goals and that we didn’t concede any goals.”
Shortly before the hour mark, Ronaldo collected a pass up the left flank from Marcelo, rapidly cut inside — moving the ball with a deft flick of his legs — and launched a powerful shot that deflected off Roma fullback Alessandro Florenzi.
“He’s a player against whom you can’t concede anything. He can go right or left, it doesn’t matter which way,” Florenzi said. “I was also unlucky, because I deflected the shot and the ball went in right under the crossbar.”
It was the 89th career goal in the Champions League for the three-time FIFA world player of the year — adding to his record haul — and his 12th this season.
After scoring, Ronaldo ran toward Zidane and hugged the French great, who replaced Rafa Benitez last month. Substitute Jese then sealed the victory with an angled shot four minutes from the end after Roma failed to take advantage of several opportunities for an equalizer.
At the final whistle, Zidane congratulated each of his players one by one, including those who didn’t play.
The return leg is on March 8 in Madrid.
In Brussels, Julian Draxler scored two classy goals to lead Wolfsburg to a 3-2 away win over Champions League newcomer AA Ghent. At 22, Draxler confirmed himself as the new creative force of a team which had been struggling.
On the hour mark, Max Kruse finished off another smooth move with a goal that made it seem like the second leg would be little more than a formality. But Ghent’s Sven Kums scored in the 80th minute and Kalifa Coulibaly made the game even closer nine minutes later.
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