Football: Real Madrid eye Champions League quarterfinals

ANKARA

Spain's Real Madrid look to reach the Champions League quarterfinals at home against Italian team Roma, having claimed a 2-0 first leg victory.

"It's not true that Roma have no chance", said Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane. "Roma are a good team but I'm more worried about what we are going to do. Their forwards are very good. If you don't do your job properly, you can be eliminated."

"For me, the most important match is always the next one. As a coach, you want to be involved in games like this. You can't explain with words what you feel. We have to defend when we don't have the ball and try to hurt our opponents when we do have it. It's not true that Roma have no chance", Zidane remarked.

Madrid's French striker Karim Benzema is likely to miss the match on Tuesday as he sustained a hamstring injury. The 28-year-old star scored four goals in five Champions League appearances this season.

For Roma, Italian central midfielder Daniele De Rossi has a calf injury and German defender Antonio Rudiger suffers from a thigh injury.

Real Madrid's Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo has been in an excellent form, scoring four goals against Celta Vigo in a league game Saturday. He leads all scorers in this season's Champions League with 12 goals in seven matches.

"I'm asking my team to do the impossible. The way they are training allows me to ask that. We have to score early then we'll see what happens; it could change the balance of the tie. We mustn't be weak mentally and play to lose. If anyone thinks like that with me, they won't even train," Luciano Spalletti said.

The second leg at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium will kick off at 8.45 p.m local time in Spain (1945GMT).

The other match of the night will be played in Germany as Wolfsburg host Belgian club Gent at Volkswagen Arena. The Germans have the advantage as they narrowly beat Gent 3-2 in the first leg in Belgium.

The match between Wolfsburg and Gent will begin at 8.45 p.m local time in Germany (1945GMT).

The first four teams to compete in Champions League quarterfinals will be known on Tuesday and Wednesday. The rest will be revealed after the return matches on March 15 and 16.

Round of 16 second leg fixtures and the first leg results are as follows:

Tuesday:

Wolfsburg (Germany) vs Gent (Belgium) (3-2)

Real Madrid (Spain) vs Roma (Italy) (2-0)


March 9:

Zenit (Russia) vs Benfica (Portugal) (0-1)

Chelsea (England) vs Paris Saint-Germain (France) (1-2)