‘Real played splendidly from start to finish’

Real Madrid easily overcame Atalanta 3-1 at home in their Champions League last-16 second leg on Tuesday to stroll into the quarter-finals 4-1 on aggregate.

"You have to congratulate the players because we played splendidly from start to finish, against a team that demands a lot of you physically," said Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane.

"We did exactly what we needed to do, both in defence and when we had the ball. We could say it was a complete performance."

Karim Benzema scored a sixth goal in five games to put the 13-times European champions in charge after 34 minutes while captain Sergio Ramos converted a penalty on the hour mark.

The Italian side managed to get one goal back thanks to a free kick from Luis Muriel in the 83rd but any hope they had of completing a comeback was quickly dashed a minute later by a low strike from Real substitute Marco Asensio.

Real coach Zinedine Zidane however praised an evergreen Luka Modric after the 35-year-old midfielder produced a majestic display in a comfortable win over Atalanta on Tuesday as the Spanish side reached the Champions League quarter-finals.

Modric played a crucial role in breaking the deadlock by contributing to his side's high-pressing game and intercepting a kick out from Atalanta keeper Marco Sportiello to set up Karim Benzema for the opening goal.

"We all know the player Modric is, he may be 35 but he sure doesn't look it out on the pitch," Zidane told reporters.