Real Madrid have a foot-and-a-half in the semifinals of the Champions League after a comfortable 3-0 win over Galatasaray, while Malaga and Borussia Dortmund still have everything to play for following a goalless first leg.
First-half goals from Ronaldo, via a beautiful finish, and Benzema, along with a strike from substitute Gonzalo Higuain, was more than enough to give Real a 3-0 advantage after the quarterfinal first leg at the Bernabeu, with Jose Mourinho's men crucially avoiding conceding that all-important away goal.
The Real Madrid manager sprung a surprise by naming Michael Essien at rightback instead of Alvaro Arbeloa. It was clear that the Portuguese was worried about the physical threat posed by both Didier Drogba and Burak Yilmaz, but really at the end of the day, he needn't have been too concerned.
Galatasaray were neat in possession, and poured forward whenever given the ball, as promised by Fatih Terim, but the fact was Real had too much quality in their side, and in Xabi Alonso in particular, a midfielder capable of pinging in those long passes time after time.
One such pass found Di Maria in space, but the Real winger's cross to Benzema was headed over.
It did not take too long, though, for Real to open the scoring, with Mesut Ozil zipping in a ball behind Galatasaray's defense to Ronaldo, who nonchalantly chipped it over goalkeeper Fernando Muslera to make it 1-0. With the goal Ronaldo moved past Burak Yilmaz and Lionel Messi to take up the sole position at the top of the Champions League goalscoring charts with nine this season.
Galatasaray were looking reasonably dangerous, with their midfielders given space and time on the ball. Drogba could have made it 1-1 but his left-footed strike after a nice turn went well over the bar.
Despite their relative ease in possession, Galatasaray's top goalscorer Yilmaz, who will miss the second leg after picking up a yellow card, was very much in the periphery, while their defense looked worryingly porous, every time Real went on the attack.
The second goal came courtesy some poor defending. A hopeful ball from Essien down the right was not dealt with properly by the Galatasaray defenders, allowing Benzema to bring the ball down with a nice first touch, before slotting it past Muslera in the 29th minute.
Real were in second gear for much of the remaining 60 minutes, with Gala not really looking like they were capable of cutting the deficit either. The killer third goal came on 73 minutes, with Higuain again taking advantage of some poor defending from the away side to head in a freekick from Alonso.
In the other match, Dortmund were made to rue a couple of missed chances as Malaga held on for a 0-0 draw in the first leg at La Rosaleda.
Mario Gotze was foiled twice by goalkeeper Willy in one-on-one situations, while Kevin Grosskreutz had a goal disallowed for offside in the first half.
Malaga also had their fair share of chances, with Isco in particular impressing yet again for the home side. However, it will be Dortmund, who will wonder how the tie remained 0-0 after 90 minutes, with Robert Lewandowski surprisingly guilty of some profligacy in front of goal.
