Real Madrid dumps Manchester United out of the UEFA Champions League after winning 2-1 on the night at Old Trafford and 3-2 on aggregate.
Cristiano Ronaldo revisited Old Trafford to score the winning goal against a 10-man Manchester United as Real Madrid progressed to the next round of the UEFA Champions League.
The game was marred by some bad decisions by referee Cuneyt Cakir who showed a red card to Manchester Untied winger Luis Nani for a tackle on Alvaro Arbeloa. The tackle seemed to be reckless but the winger did not deserve red as he clearly got the ball.
Should Nani have been sent off? Well that is a debate which will take a while to die down. Sir Alex Ferguson was so upset with the decision that he decided to snub the post-match press conference.
United had edged ahead on aggregate three minutes after the second half started as Nani struck a low cross which clipped off Sergio Ramos and went into his own net, scoring an own goal.
After being sent off in the in the 56th minute, with about half an hour left on the clock, Real Madrid took hold of the game very well. This made the United defense look like school children. Luka Modric scored the equalizer with a ripping shot from outside the box that went in off the right hand post in the 66th minute.
Many people thought that Ronaldo would have thought that emotions would have gotten the better of Ronaldo, but he proved the people wrong and scored the winner to take Madrid through to the quarterfinals. His goal was followed by a very subdued celebration.
Jose Mourinho said that after the game he felt that the better team lost stating that Madrid did not play well. Overall, the game which was dominated by the Spanish side but marred with bad refereeing sees the nine-time UEFA Champions League winner enter the quarter-finals.