Regal Real roast Roma

Roma 0 Real Madrid 3

Real knew they had to win against the Italians to be assured of a place in the next round and never looked back after Brazilian Ronaldo put them ahead in the ninth minute.

Apart from a scare when Roma’s French midfielder Vincent Candela hit the top of the post with a free-kick in the 31st minute the nine-times European Cup winners had little trouble against a weak Roma.

Real go through with Germans Bayer Leverkusen who beat Dynamo Kiev 3-0 to force the Ukrainians, who went into the final game leading the group, into third place and the UEFA Cup.

Roma, already out of Europe, had nothing to play for and fielded a weakened side without striker Francesco Totti and Vincenzo Montella in an empty Olympic stadium.

The 70,000 venue was deserted as Roma served the second of two matches they were ordered by UEFA to play behind closed doors after trouble at their opening group game against Dynamo where Swedish referee Anders Frisk was hurt by an object thrown from the crowd.

In such a strange atmosphere, Real settled in quickly and Ronaldo had a decent chance in just the second minute but he headed over a Figo cross from the right flank.

But the Brazilian made no mistake when, after a lengthy passing move, Zinedine Zidane slipped the ball into his path and Ronaldo lifted the ball past the advancing Roma keeper Ivan Pelizzoli to put Real ahead.

With the pressure having eased, Real were content to push the ball around in midfield without much in the way of disturbance from the Italian side although, in the 22nd minute, Ronaldo had another half chance, firing wide under challenge from French defender Philippe Mexes. Roma created nothing in the first half hour but then went close to an equaliser when Candela struck the woodwork with a free kick.

Then on the stroke of halftime, Roma’s Argentine defender Leandro Cufre forced Real keeper Iker Casillas into action with a powerful long range drive that Casillas opted to punch out.

Real were clearly taking no risks after the break and they were somewhat fortunate to extend their lead in the 61st minute when Ronaldo was judged by Dutch referee Rene Temmink to have been fouled inside the area by Greek defender Traianos Dellas. The Brazilian certainly made the most of the slightest of contact with the Roma defender and Figo converted confidently to put Real 2-0 up and in firm control of the game.

Real suffered a couple of late worries when Roma’s Brazilian wing-back Mancini had a powerful free kick parried out by Casillas in the 78th minute and then Daniele Corvia had a header ruled out for offside.

But Figo wrapped up the win with a nicely taken goal eight minutes from the end, showing excellent skill to beat Dellas before firing past Pelizzoli.

ROMA: Pelizzoli, Mexes, Ferrari, Dellas, Cufre, Perrotta (De Martino 82), Aquilani, Candela, Mancini, Delvecchio, Corvia.

REAL MADRID: Casillas, Helguera, Samuel, Salgado, Carlos, Beckham, Zidane (Celades 85), Guti, Figo (Pavon 82), Raul, Ronaldo (Owen 84).

Ref: Rene Temmink (Holland).