Real Madrid and Schalke cruise into Champions League semifinals

Both Real Madrid and Schalke cruised into the Champions League semifinals on Wednesday.  Both sides had done their work in the opening legs and only needed to manage the second leg already having big aggregate leads.  The first half of the Tottenham - Real Madrid match was spectacular.  Played at breakneck speed. Tottenham attacked in waves while Real Madrid countered just as effectively.  Tottenham had three separate, legit claims for penalty turned down by the referee and the match somehow went to halftime scoreless. 

Real Madrid struck just ater halftime as Cristiano Ronaldo let loose from long range.  The ball was directly at Tottenham keeper Gomes who somehow bungled it into his own net.  It would be the only goal on the night as both sides wasted scoring opportunities.  Even though Tottenham are out of the Champions League, it is hard to not say they are not one of the most entertaining sides in all of Europe to watch play.

Schalke advanced on 7-3 aggregate and will play Manchester United in the other semifinal on April 26 and May 4, the first time the German club has advanced that far in Europe's top club tournament. Raul Gonzalez scored in the 45th minute and set up Benedikt Howedes with a pass over the defense in the 81st.

"We showed in both matches how much potential we have in our team," Schalke defender Christoph Metzelder said. "We wanted to win, we were not happy with 1-1."

Thiago Motta had scored for Inter, the last Italian team in the competition, in the 49th. "What can you say, we really won it last week," Schalke coach Ralf Rangnick said. "We defended very well tonight, we allowed maybe two chances. We could have won [bigger] again if you count all the chances."

While United is heavily favored against the German club, the matchup of the two Spanish powers is far more intriguing. "Let's see what happens," Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said. "A semi is a semi and anything can happen."