adminNAPLES. – Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos performed another rescue act to wreck Napoli’s brave comeback attempt and take the Champions League soccer title-holders into the quarter-finals on Tuesday night after they had taken a first-half battering. Napoli, trailing 3-1 from the first leg of the round of 16 tie, looked more than capable of overturning the deficit as they dominated the first half and took the lead through Dries Mertens.
But with Real wobbling, Ramos popped up to head an equaliser early in the second half and he produced another header six minutes later which deflected off Mertens and into the net.
Substitute Alvaro Morata added another in stoppage time against deflated opponents to give Real a 3-1 win that sent them into their seventh successive Champions League quarter-final by a deceptive 6-2 aggregate score. “We did really well for the first 45 minutes but the two goals early in the second half took the wind out of our sails,” said Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri.
“Because of that, we weren’t able to maintain the same intensity in the second half.”
Backed by a fervent crowd, Napoli made a fast and furious start and peppered the Real goal with shots in the opening 10 minutes.
They repeatedly carved open Real’s defence with quick, clever angled passing and superb running off the ball. One such move produced their opening goal when inspirational captain Marek Hamsik laid a perfectly-weighted first-time pass into the path of Mertens who lost his marker and placed his shot wide of Keylor Navas. – Reuters.
Online Reporter