Real Madrid 3–4 Schalke 04 (agg 5–4): Real survive
Scorers: Real Madrid - Ronaldo (25, 45), Benzema (52); Schalke - Fuchs (20), Huntelaar (40, 84), Sané (57)
Agg: 5-4
Schalke striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar struck twice to end his former club’s 21-match unbeaten run at the Bernabeu in the competition but the German side could not force the goal in the last six minutes which would have taken them into the quarter-finals.
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Hide AdUnhappy Real fans waved white handkerchiefs to show their displeasure at the end and the defeat took the gloss off another record-breaking night for Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portugal international twice equalised with first-half headers with the second, moments before half-time, taking him level with Lionel Messi as the Champions League’s joint-highest scorer with 75.
Ronaldo’s second also took him beyond former Real hero Raul to become the player with the most goals in all European competitions (78).
His double strike papered over the cracks of some shambolic defending from the reigning champions which had seen Christian Fuchs and then Huntelaar give the visitors a real chance of turning around a 2-0 deficit from the first leg. However, Ronaldo’s second and Karim Benzema’s 20th of the season just after the interval appeared to have taken the game well beyond Schalke’s reach.
But youngster Leroy Sane, on only his ninth senior appearance, pulled one back with over half-an-hour to go and Huntelaar set up a grandstand finish.
Porto trounced Basel 4-0 in last night’s other last-16 tie to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 2004, when the Portuguese club lifted the title.
Goals from Yacine Brahimi, Hector Herrera, Casemiro and Vincent Aboubakar built on a 1-1 draw in Switzerland two weeks earlier to give Porto a convincing 5-1 aggregate victory.