Real Madrid avoided another early Champions League exit on Tuesday by beating Atalanta 3-1 to win the tie 4-1 on aggregate and reach the quarter-finals for the first time in three years.
Sergio Ramos marked his return from injury by converting a penalty after Karim Benzema continued his scoring streak by capitalising on a glaring error from Atlanta goalkeeper Marco Sportiello.
Sportiello’s scuffed clearance in the first half resulted in Benzema being given an easy finish at the Alfredo di Stefano stadium and after an electric start, Atalanta never really recovered.
Luis Muriel pulled one back for the visitors late on but any hopes of a comeback were quickly crushes as substitute Marco Asensio fired in a third for Madrid.
Zinedine Zidane’s side will be in Friday’s draw for the last eight and with their old guard fit and firing again, they will be hopeful of exceeding expectations of La Liga’s reigning champions.
Ramos played just over an hour in his second appearance since recovering from a knee injury while Benzema’s goal was his eighth and 70th in the Champions League, making him only the fifth player to reach that number.
The 35-year-old Modric and Toni Kroos were dominant in the absence of the suspended Casemiro.
How Madrid’s veterans would fare against more polished opposition remains to be seen, after they came up short against Manchester City last year and Ajax the year before that, both in the last 16.
Remo Freuler’s red card and a late goal spoiled the Italians’ night in Bergamo and it was individual errors from Sportiello and then Rafael Toloi for the penalty that let them down again in Madrid.
Ramos signalled to the bench that his work was done and he departed shortly after, before Benzema headed Lucas Vazquez’s cross at Sportiello and the rebound against the post.
Muriel gave Atalanta hope by curling in a superb free-kick with eight minutes left but in an instant it was gone again, as Asensio drove in a third.
