Cristiano Ronaldo hauled Real Madrid into a sixth-successive Champions League semi-final as his hat-trick sealed a 3-2 aggregate victory over Wolfsburg.
Trailing by two goals after their quarter-final first leg defeat in Germany, Real erased Wolfsburg’s lead within 17 minutes as Ronaldo’s quick-fire double – his 14th and 15th Champions League goals of the season – restored parity.
Wolfsburg were able to keep Real at bay for another hour but the pressure finally told as the three-time Ballon d’Or winner notched his third treble in Europe this season with a sumptuous free-kick 13 minutes from time.
The comeback means Madrid become only the third team in Champions League history to overturn a two-goal first-leg deficit.
Having rested several first-choice players in their weekend league outings, both managers reverted back to their strongest possible starting line-ups.
Zinedine Zidane made seven changes to the Real side which coasted to a 4-0 victory over Eibar, with Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema the notable inclusions, while Dieter Hecking welcomed back Julian Draxler after he missed Wolfsburg’s 1-1 draw with Mainz on Saturday.
Ronaldo and Gareth Bale celebrate Real’s winning goal at the Bernabeu
After last week’s disappointing showing in the Wolfsburg Arena, Real produced a disciplined display in front of a raucous Bernabeu crowd as the Bundesliga side’s first-leg lead was wiped out with just over a quarter of an hour on the clock.
After Sergio Ramos saw a glancing header shave the crossbar on six minutes, Ronaldo hammered home Real’s early dominance on 15 minutes, rifling Dani Carvajal’s low, deflected cross past Diego Benaglio.
Vieirinha’s fine defensive header seconds later prevented Real from an immediate second but, from the resulting corner, Ronaldo stole a march on the shell-shocked Wolfsburg defence to glance in his second on 17 minutes.
Ronaldo’s glancing header drew Real level on 17 minutes
Having achieved their minimum target for the evening, Real took their foot off the gas, allowing Wolfsburg to settle into the game. And the visitors cause, surprisingly, was aided by Draxler’s injury on 30 minutes, which forced Hecking to bring the more direct Max Kruse on.
As a result the visitors ended the first half the stronger of the two sides, but Bruno Henrique was unable to convert a glorious chance for the visitors seven minutes before the interval, as Marcelo deflected his effort wide.
As they had in the first half, Real controlled the opening stages of the second. Naldo came close to completing the Real comeback on the hour-mark when he turned Benzema’s cross towards his own net, but Benaglio produced a fine save reflex save.
Wolfsburg stood firm after losing their first-leg lead but the Real pressure finally told
The Wolfsburg stopper looked impenetrable, denying Ramos’ header on the goal line when it appeared to have crossed the line on 65 minutes.
But his resolve was finally broken on 77 minutes when, after Luis Gustavo fouled Luka Modric, Ronaldo found a gap in the Wolfsburg wall and coaxed a fine free-kick beyond the reach of Benaglio.
The Swiss ‘keeper prevented the hosts from running amok in the closing stages, handing his side a chance to snatch victory on the away-goals rule in the closing stages, but Real stood firm to remain on the hunt for an unprecedented 11th European crown.
Source:Skysports
