Real Madrid had a bit of luck – Bale

Gareth Bale feels Real Madrid did benefit from some good fortune against Roma, but still were deserving winners of their Champions League last-16 tie.

Cristiano Ronaldo and James Rodriguez struck in the space of four second-half minutes to give Zinedine Zidane’s men a 2-0 win on Tuesday and a 4-0 victory on aggregate.

The match could have been very different, though, with Roma squandering four golden chances to score first through Edin Dzeko, Alessandro Florenzi and Mohamed Salah twice.

Bale recognised that Madrid had profited from some good luck, but felt the first-leg display had proven crucial to ensure progression through to the quarter-finals.

“You always need a bit of luck in a game, they had good chances and they could have scored,” said the 26-year-old.

“We defended well and in the second half we scored. My team-mates did a great job in Rome and our objective was to play well in this game and score to kill off the tie. 

“We achieved that, we are happy and now we will wait for the draw for the next round. We now have to concentrate on La Liga and end the season well.”

Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas has his sights set on going all the way in the competition, but is aware his team will require an improvement in performance to prevail in three difficult matches and reach that goal.

He said: “There were periods where we had to work hard because Roma are a good side, but we did well and we won.

“During the game there were a few situations where we were attacking and we found it difficult to reorganise ourselves. We know that and we must work to put it right as soon as possible.

“We all believe that we can fight for the Champions League. We are working towards that and we want to keep on track.

“The European Cup is an important title and we want to win it. In the quarter-final there are no easy opponents. They are all strong and we will have to go in to it with integrity.”