adminTuesday night.
Real came from behind to win 2-1 at Old Trafford and advance 3-2 on aggregate after a controversial red card for winger Nani rocked United early in the second half, while Dortmund swept to a 3-0 home win to go through 5-2.
Real, held 1-1 in the first leg at the Bernabeu, trailed to a Sergio Ramos own goal just after the break but scored twice in three minutes soon after Nani was shown a shock straight red after his high foot caught Alvaro Arbeloa in the 56th minute.
Real’s Luka Modric came off the bench to curl in a lovely shot in the 66th minute and former United favourite Cristiano Ronaldo slid in the second to silence the crowd and keep Madrid on course for a 10th European Cup.
Dortmund, who topped their qualifying group above Real, were well-placed at 2-2 after the opener in Ukraine and took complete control with first-half goals by Felipe Santana and Mario Goetze before Jakub Blaszczykowski completed the job after an hour.
There were two more last 16 matches last night with Juventus taking a 3-0 lead into their home game against Celtic while Paris St Germain took on Valencia in France 2-1 up.
The remaining four games are being played next week and the draw for the quarter-finals will take place on March 15.
The red card for Nani came as a total surprise and was the start of a terrible 13-minute spell that doomed the home side to defeat as Real, trailing 1-0, struck twice in three minutes through Luka Modric and Ronaldo to seal Real’s place in the last eight.
Substitute Modric, only been on the field for seven minutes, lashed in Real’s equaliser from 20 metres after 66 minutes and Ronaldo slid in at the far post three minutes later to turn in a cross from Gonzalo Higuain and seal Real’s place in the last eight.
“Independent of the decision, the best team lost,” Real coach Jose Mourinho told ITV. “We didn’t play well, we didn’t deserve to win, but football is like this.
“I am not sure about the decision, but independent of that, the best team lost.”
Mourinho told Spanish television TVE he was disappointed by the performance.
“I am happy that we are through but I expected more from my team,” he said. “When your goalkeeper is the best player on the pitch and you are playing against 10 men then that shows you are not controlling the match as you should.
“But you have to know how to suffer and how to win under those circumstances.”— Soccernet.
Online Reporter