Champions League: Real deserves to win- Ronaldo

But think of those bumps and ridges he is so proud of this way: they’re proof of how hard Ronaldo continues to work to stay on top, to prepare his body and mind for these key moments that separate great players from good ones. Nothing is handed to you in football, you have to fight until the end. I told my players we were going to be troubled, that it would be tricky.

Zidane, however, maintains his team fully deserved to go through.

And Madrid captain for the night, Marcelo, took the opportunity to take a pop at Spanish rivals Barcelona after his side’s victory.

Gianluigi Buffon was shown a red card by Michael Oliver for protesting the decision, leaving Ronaldo to score his 41st goal of the season from the spot past substitute keeper Wojciech Szczesny.

“People are a bit obsessed [with Madrid], but we can do nothing about that”, he said. “It’s a shame it ends like this”. Winning 3:1 at the 88th minute of the match, Barcelona then quickly scored three more goals and made it to the next stage of the Champions League.

Unsettled on the backline due to the absence of the suspended Sergio Ramos, the Blancos conceded a goal in the second minute when Croatian forward Mario Mandzukic fired home on a cross from Sami Khedira.

Blaise Matuidi pounced to capitalise on Keylor Navas’ fumble to level the tie on aggregate, before the dramatic ending. He celebrated by taking off his shirt and running toward the euphoric Madrid crowd.

“There is always an enormous effort in a big Champions League game, but we are ready now for La Liga“, he said.

The penalty came as Vazquez was in position to score in front of the goal after Ronaldo headed down a cross into the area. Benatia comes and makes contact before Vasquez plays the ball.

Zidane said he believed the attacks on his team were motivated by their continued domination in Europe.

Malaga’s season has been characterised by endless travails from the word go, as a result of which they have been rooted to the bottom of the league table for several weeks now.

German champions Bayern went through on a 2-1 aggregate after their first-leg victory in Spain last week for their sixth semi-final in the last seven years.

Ramos will be back now for the semis, but Zidane will still need to find a way of stemming the issues down the flanks – especially with Roma, Liverpool and Bayern Munich all featuring pacy wingers of their own.