Roma 0 - Real Madrid 3

Roma: Pelizzoli; Mexes, Ferrari, Dellas; Cufré, Perrotta (De Martino 82'), Aquilani, Candela; Mancini, Delvecchio, Corvia. 3-4-3.
Madrid: Casillas; Salgado, Iván Helguera, Samuel, Roberto Carlos; Beckham, Guti; Figo (Pavón 82'), Raúl, Zidane (Celades 86'); Ronaldo (Owen 84'). 4-2-3-1.

Goals:
0-1. 36. Ronaldo. Ran on to Zidane through ball and shot across keeper.
0-2. 60. Figo (penalty). After Ronaldo pulled over in area by Dellas.
0-3. 81. Figo. Lifted ball over defender and fired shot wide of Pelizzoli.

Real Madrid made it through to the last sixteen of the competition after beating Roma 0-3 on the last day of the league stage. A draw against Leverkusen a fortnight ago left the Galacticos needing a victory in a match which was played behind closed doors due to the ban imposed after the referee was hit by an object thrown from the crowd earlier in the season. The closure had contributed to the Italians downfall in the competition, and Del Neri put out a depleted side who had nothing left to play for except for pride.

Even so it was not a foregone conclusion, and García Remón put out his best line up after resting several players at the weekend. Ronaldo put a header just wide early on, and in the ninth minute the Brazilian striker put his side in front, picking up a pass from Zidane to crash a shot past Pelizzoli. Raúl came close to adding a second when he shot wide on the turn, and Ronaldo got through again only to mis-kick and put the ball past the post.

Roma didn't give up though, and Candela almost equalised with a free kick which bounced off the top of the bar. Aquilani shot just wide soon afterwards, and Casillas had to punch away another effort from Cufré before the break. But Ronaldo burst through the local defence on the hour mark with a mesmerizing run, and although in the end he seemed to be going nowhere, Dellas pulled him back and the referee pointed to the spot. Figo had missed a penalty in the last game, but he stepped up confidently and drilled the ball into the net.

Now Madrid were home and dry, although Casillas was called into action a couple of times after that, and Corvia also got the ball into the net only to see his header ruled out for a marginal offside. But with ten minutes to go Figo made sure with a third goal, picking up a pass from Beckham to lift the ball over Dellas and roll a shot wide of the keeper. Madrid were in to the next round, albeit as second in their group behind Leverkusen, and García Remón can breath a sigh of relief.