No miracles as Real Madrid and Napoli reach Champions League quarters
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Real Madrid cruised into the Champions League quarter-finals as Karim Benzema’s second-half goal secured a comfortable 1-0 win over Liverpool in their last-16 second leg that wrapped up a 6-2 aggregate victory on Wednesday.
Bidding to win back-to-back Champions League titles and a record extending 15th European crown, a disciplined Real seemed content to sit back against a tame Liverpool who carried little threat for most of the game.Real spurned several opportunities to open the scoring as they looked to exploit Vinicius Jr’s speed on the counter-attack but could not break the deadlock until late in the second half.They sealed victory in the 79th minute when Vinicius flicked a loose ball inside the area to Benzema who tapped it into the empty net.
Napoli forward Victor Osimhen struck either side of the break to steer the Italians to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday and into the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time.
The 24-year-old Nigeria international, who also scored in their 2-0 win over Eintracht in Germany, scored with a header in first-half stoppage time.
Osimhen bagged his 23rd goal in 28 matches in all competitions this season with a tap-in after a quick four-pass Napoli combination in the 53rd minute before Piotr Zielinski converted a penalty to secure a 5-0 aggregate win.
Napoli are the third Italian team to advance to the quarters after Inter and AC Milan.
