Ruthless Roma put Real to the sword

A ruthless AS Roma snatched a 2-1 win over 10-man Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Wednesday to clinch their place in the Champions League quarter-finals 4-2 on aggregate.

Real took the initiative for most of the game, but suffered a major setback when Portugal centre-back Pepe was sent off for picking up a second booking 19 minutes from time.

They were still reeling from the blow when Brazilian midfielder Taddei found space in the Real defence to head the visitors in front.

Real hit back two minutes later when skipper Raul steered in after some neat work by Robinho but Roma put them to the sword when substitute Mirko Vucinic scored with a diving header just before the final whistle.

“I expected a tough game, but my team came here to get a result and they responded perfectly,” Roma coach Luciano Spalletti told a news conference.

“We suffered at times, but we deserved to go through. We didn’t steal this tie from Real. I think both sides played well and that makes the win here at this ground even more special.”

Having lost 2-1 in the first leg in Rome, Real pushed hard for an early goal, but a cagey Roma side appeared content to sit back and soak up the pressure.

Roma keeper Doni was not pressed into action until the 17th minute when he did well to deal with a deflected Julio Baptista free kick, but the Italians responded with two great shots that gave the Bernabeu a warning of what was to come.

Midfielder Alberto Aquilani sent a rasping drive slamming on to the bar from 20 metres out and Taddei followed up with another fierce shot that had Iker Casillas scrambling to turn past the post.

Without the injured Ruud van Nistelrooy, Real lacked bite up front and grew increasingly frustrated as they got no change from the miserly Roma back four.

Roma, in contrast, looked more and more confident as they clipped the ball neatly around the midfield and broke quickly into attack.

Real threatened once more at the start of the second half, Baptista smacking a dipping free kick against the bar and Mahamadou Diarra testing Doni with a powerful drive.

But once again it was Roma who came closest to breaking the deadlock when Vucinic rattled the bar with a thundering drive less than a minute after coming on.

Real began to lose their cool when Pepe was sent off after picking up a second booking for a foul on Vucinic and Taddei took advantage of the confusion in defence to head home two minutes later.

Raul hit back almost immediately, sweeping low past Doni after a neat through pass from Robinho but Roma dealt the definitive blow when Vucinic threw himself at a Christian Panucci free kick and headed in past Casillas.

“Given the difficulty of the opponents I couldn’t have asked for more from the team,” said Real coach Bernd Schuster. “They had to play with a man down. They showed great character and kept believing they could win this game.”