NAPLES – Sergio Ramos headed an equaliser and created an own goal to set Real Madrid on the way to a 3-1 win at Napoli on Tuesday, which took the title-holders into the Champions League quarter-finals after they had taken a first-half battering.
The Serie A side, trailing 3-1 from the first leg of the last-16 tie, looked more than capable of overturning the deficit as they dominated the first half and took the lead through Dries Mertens in the 24th minute.
But Napoli’s hopes of a first quarter-final appearance effectively ended when defender Ramos, who has made a habit of rescuing his team, headed in from a corner in the 51st minute.
He repeated the trick six minutes later, although the ball took a deflection off Mertens and was given by UEFA as an own goal to the Belgian.
Alvaro Morata added another goal for Real in stoppage time to complete a 6-2 aggregate win, which sent the Spanish side through to their seventh successive Champions League quarter-final.