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Today saw two equally stunning performances in the Champions League Round of 16 that sent two teams through to the next Round.

The first match on the plate was CSKA Moscow at Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Coming in 1-1 on aggregate after the first leg, CSKA were looking to hit a stsggering blow to the Madridian Whites. A 26th minute goal from Gonzalo Higuain, a 55th minute goal from Cristiano Ronaldo, and a 70th minute goal from Karim Benzema allowed Real to sail to the game's end.

A bullet of a shot from CSKA's Zoran Tosic in the 77th minute helped avoid a scoreless game for the Russians, but an easy second goal from CR7 was the icing on the cake for the hometown fans. CSKA was knocked out 5-2 on aggregate. They are currently second in the Russian Premier League, six points behind Zenit St. Petersburg, who were knocked out of the Champions League by Benfica on March 6th.

The game that was the highlight of the day though was Italy's Napoli at Chelsea. With a first leg victory of 3-1 over the London team, Napoli would need to absolutely fall apart in order to be eliminated and Chelsea would need to mount a fantastic comeback to remain the final English side in the League. A header apiece for Didier Drogba and John Terry, in the 29th and 47th minutes respectively, put Chelsea in a spot to progress thanks to the Away Goals rule. A line drive from Napoli's Gohkan Inler between the legs of two Chelsea players put the Italians ahead once again.

A blatant handball in the 75th minute by Andrea Dossena allowed Frank Lampard to score a third goal for Chelsea on a penalty kick. After traveling past several Napoli defenders on a perfectly placed pass, Branislav Ivanovic found the back of the net in the 105th minute to completely bypass a shootout. Napoli could not connect in the second extra time half and effectively blew a 3-1 lead to find themselves eliminated. The Naples side currently stands fourth in Serie A, eleven points behind first placed AC Milan.
With the Champions League Round of 16 in the books, the qualified field is set. Real Madrid and Chelsea will join Cyprus's APOEL Nicosia, France's Olympique Marseille, Portugal's Benfica, FC Barcelona, Germany's Bayern Munich, and AC Milan in the Quarter Finals. The draw for the matchups will be held on Friday, the first legs will be on March 27th and 28th, and the second legs will be held on April 3rd and 4th.


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