Ramos shines, Real enters quarterfinals with big win

Captain Sergio Ramos scored two headers as Real beat Napoli 3-1 in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie.

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Goals: Mertens 24' - Ramos 51', Mertens own goal 57', Morata 90'+1 (Real won 6-2 in the end)

Ramos scored two goals for Real in just six minutes of the second half. In the first goal, the center-back headed the ball to level the score at 1-1. Not long after, Ramos continued his accurate aerial play, causing the ball to hit Dries Mertens' head before flying into the Napoli net.

For Real, the captain's two goals were crucial in securing a ticket to the quarter-finals. Napoli were leading 1-0 and only needed one more goal to turn the game around. After two lightning-fast headers from Ramos, the game completely changed. Towards the end of the match, Napoli lost much will to play and easily conceded a third goal.

Ramos' goals often play a decisive role for Real. Photo: Reuters

Napoli's 1-3 loss, like the first leg, was a somewhat surprising result for fans. Before the return leg, fans had high hopes that the team ranked third in Serie A could hold or cause a surprise against the reigning Champions League champions.

Compared to expectations, what happened in the first half could not be much different. Right from the first minutes, Napoli attacked and created pressure on Real's goal. One of these attacks turned into a goal when Mertens accurately shot diagonally from a pass from Marek Hamsik in the 24th minute.

Mertens put Napoli ahead in the first half.

With more luck, Napoli could have led 2-0 in the first half. Koulibaly and Hamsik both had chances to finish but failed. The post also saved Real from another Mertens finish.

Meanwhile, before the break, Real did not create many dangerous situations towards Napoli's goal. The only notable situation was when Ronaldo dribbled past both the defender and goalkeeper Reina but hit the post with his shot.

The game turned in Real's favour after Ramos' two headers. With the pressure off, the defending champions were free to attack the opposition goal and had many chances to increase the lead. In the first minute of injury time, Napoli's net shook for the third time when Reina blocked Ronaldo's shot but could not stop Morata from scoring the rebound.

Ramos headed the ball to help Real turn the game around.

With two 3-1 wins over Napoli, Real became one of the two teams to advance to the quarterfinals. In the other match on the evening of March 7, Bayern beat Arsenal with a final score of 10-2.

According to VNE