Madrid: Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice and Kaka added a first-half goal as Real Madrid completed their easy passage into the Champions League semi-finals with a 5-2 victory over APOEL Nicosia on Wednesday.
Madrid reached their second straight semi-final under coach Jose Mourinho after winning the quarter-final 8-2 on aggregate, with the record nine-time champions' progression never in doubt at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
Ronaldo scored in each half to take his season goal tally to 49, while Kaka curled home in the 37th to match Rivaldo's 27 Champions League goals, a record for a Brazilian player.
Gustavo Manduca netted for APOEL in the 67th, while substitutes Jose Callejon and Angel di Maria added goals for Madrid and Esteban Solari scored a late penalty for the Cypriots.
Madrid, who will face Bayern Munich in the semis, have now advanced 27 of 28 times when winning away in the first leg, and their explosive attack simply overpowered the underdog opponent — the first Cypriot team to even reach the knockout stages of the competition.
Mourinho insisted before the game that he wouldn't juggle his line-up much, but the Portuguese coach started Turkey international Nuri Sahin in the midfield in place of Xabi Alonso, while Hamit Altintop and Raphael Varane also started. Kaka also returned after inspiring the first-leg victory, and the Brazilian midfielder set up Ronaldo in the area in the fifth minute, but his effort was saved by goalkeeper Urko Pardo.
Gonzalo Higuain then missed Marcelo's cross at the near post, but Ronaldo was at the opposite post to open the scoring in the 26th. Kaka doubled the lead with a shot from the left edge of the area, after having hit the post from a similar spot.
Mourinho introduced Callejon and Di Maria soon after the restart, but it was APOEL who scored the next goal. After failing to produce a single shot in the first half, APOEL took advantage of Madrid's lack of concentration as Manduca was played clear through Madrid's defensive line into the area, where he beat Iker Casillas with a clinical finish.
Madrid responded through Ronaldo's eighth goal of the competition, a perfectly taken free kick that curled over the defensive wall past the outstretched Pardo into the top corner.
Callejon scored from an individual run in the 80th to re-establish the three-goal advantage, but Altintop soon slid into Solari — brother of former Real Madrid player Santiago Solari — as the pair charged into the area to set up the spot kick which he calmly pushed past Casillas.
But Madrid's explosive attack did not let up as Di Maria lobbed the ball over Pardo for the Argentina forward's first goal since returning from a long injury layoff.
Before the match, Madrid paid tribute to Jose Maria Zarraga, a member of the Madrid team that won a record five straight European Cups between 1956-60, who died on Tuesday.
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