Real Madrid survived a patchy defensive performance to defeat Roma 2-0 in the second-leg of their Champions League last-16 clash to reach the quarter-finals 4-0 on aggregate.

Cristiano Ronaldo fired home the opening goal in the 64th minute and set up James Rodriguez soon after to secure the tie for Real.

“The Italian teams are always strong … I think we deserved to win, and now we have to think about the next round,” Rodriguez said.

Watch Ronaldo’s goal and assist below

Roma were left to kick themselves for Edin Dzeko and Mohamed Salah missing several clear cut opportunities with the game goalless.

“We had many chances in the first-leg and we had many chances today, but if you don’t score you can’t go through,” Roma captain Alessandro Florenzi said.

“Sometimes it doesn’t depend on experience, you just have to be more precise. It’s a pity, with some more efficiency it could have been another story.”

In Wolfsburg, the hosts defeated Gent 1-0 on Andre Schuerrle’s strike to progress 4-2 on aggregate following their first-leg win in Belgium.

The return legs continue on Thursday morning (AEST) when Paris Saint-Germain defend a 2-1 lead at Chelsea and Benfica take a 1-0 advantage to Zenit St Petersburg.