A brave attacking approach from Napoli in an exceptional first-half display was undone by a Sergio Ramos double as Real Madrid stumbled into the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Fanatical fans inspire fast Napoli start
With Napoli trailing 3-1 after the first leg, Head Coach Maurizio Sarri was boosted by the inclusion of Belgian international Dries Mertens who overcame a knock sustained when netting a double against Roma last weekend. Sarri was looking for his side to see off a Real Madrid team that came into the contest on the back of 46 consecutive games where they had not failed to score. Bolstered by the return of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, Napoli fans created a hostile atmosphere more in hope than expectation of an unlikely overhaul of the two-goal deficit. Credit to 20,000 of the home fans who arrived five hours early at the Stadio San Paolo.
The hosts seemed to relish a rare full house and offered early sighters through Mertens, who had an effort deflected over, before Marek Hamsik fell just short of making contact with a dangerous cross. The Slovakia captain then drifted a rushed long range effort just wide as the Italian side dominated the opening exchanges.
A fast tempo continued for the hosts and they were able to open a slight opening for hotshot Lorenzo Insigne. The striker almost repeated the stunning effort he scored in Madrid, but Keylor Navas scrambled across his goal to turn it wide. Yet the visitors always offered the potential of an instant counter-attack and Toni Kroos executed a technical volley after Luka Modric stole possession, only for his edge of the box effort to fall comfortably for Pepe Reina. Hamsik then dragged another effort wide at the other end.
Mertens nets as the woodwork is struck at both ends
Madrid did seem to be slowly working their way into the game and naturally found gaps on the break. Bale took down a diagonal ball before cutting inside and firing an effort straight at Reina. Yet if the visitors looked dangerous on the transition, Napoli were just as threatening with their one-touch passing game and it was to pay dividends midway through the half. Insigne found Hamsik who instantly played through Mertens and the Belgian duly slotted past Navas to drag Napoli back into the contest.
The La Liga giants had a golden opportunity to respond immediately. Ronaldo skipped clear of the Napoli defence, rounded goalkeeper Reina but could only find the post from an open goal position. Napoli themselves then created another great chance as Kalidou Koulibaly nodded over Jose Callejon's swinging corner.
The hosts were clearly keen to restore parity on aggregate as soon as possible and were inches away from doing so before the half drew to a close. Allan fed Mertens after more neat interplay and the in-form attacking midfielder struck the post with his effort. Hamsik then burst clear but snatched his effort wide after a fast Napoli counter moments later, before being thwarted by Navas at a tight angle as the playmaker continued to threaten.
Quick-fire Ramos double stuns the Italians
Zinedine Zidane would have demanded a response from his squad after half-time and they looked to deliver immediately. Marcelo floated a ball out to Karim Benzema before the Frenchman flashed his effort at the side-netting. After the visitors piled forward again and forced a corner, the Spanish side did what they always do...score. Kroos whipped in a wicked delivery and captain Sergio Ramos was on hand to power his header into the back of the net. In an instant Napoli's reward for their graft had been extinguished.
Just six minutes later the same combination were prominent again to all but kill off the Italian side. This time from the right flank, Kroos swung across a corner that was met by the head of the Madrid captain with Mertens making a mess of his attempted clearance and flicking the ball past Reina.
Both teams go through the motions as the holders eventually ease through
The spirit of the hosts had clearly been flattened, though substitute Marko Rog fired over after strong approach play by Faouzi Ghoulam. Madrid looked a lot more comfortable with the cushion of a three-goal aggregate advantage and Napoli could not create attacks with the same incision and pace as they had done in the first half. Sarri's ambitions for the contest became clearer when he chose to take off Insigne and Hamsik.
Napoli were reduced to ambitious snapshots and Rog smashed over oncemore. Madrid were dominating possession and Dani Carvajal almost scored a goal to remember as he juggled the ball through the Napoli defence but hooked his effort over won his weaker left foot.
As the game entered injury time, Madrid substitute Alvaro Morata was able to add insult to injury. Marcelo fed Ronaldo and his shot was parried out by Reina before Morata responded quicker than anyone to net a third on the night for the holders with almost the final kick of the game. Zidane and Madrid took a sharp intake of breath after overcoming a brave Napoli effort to progress to the quarter-finals.