The Tribune

By ROB HARRIS AP Sports Writer LONDON (AP) -- Cristiano Ronaldo's double ensured Real Madrid easily ended APOEL Nicosia's extraordinary Champions League run yesterday and set up a semifinal with Bayern Munich, while Chelsea will next face holder Barcelona after ousting Benfica. Already 3-0 up from the first leg, nine-time champion Madrid romped to a 5-2 victory over the first Cypriot team to even reach the knockout stages of the Europe's illustrious competition. Ronaldo scored in each half to raise his goal tally for the season to 49, while Kaka, Jose Callejon and Angel di Maria also netted for as Jose Mourinho's Madrid reached a second successive semifinal. "The objective has been achieved, we won and now we're in the semifinals," Ronaldo said. "Now we have Bayern, which is not going to be easy." It was a nervier night in London for Chelsea despite going 2-0 up on aggregate in the 21st minute when Frank Lampard netted the second-leg opener from the penalty spot. Despite Maxi Pereira being sent off in the 40th, Javi Garcia headed Benfica back into the game in the 85th as the Portuguese side threatened a late comeback. But Raul Meireles netted a stoppage-time goal to secure Chelsea's 3-1 aggregate victory and a chance to avenge the 2009 semifinal loss to Barcelona. "Everyone has unfinished business with them," Lampard said. "They are the greatest team in the world. They are going to be favourites but we have a lot of belief in ourselves. We have to perform at our best to beat them and we believe we can do that." Even if Chelsea managed to overcome mighty Barca, the London club could have to face a Madrid side coached by former manager Jose Mourinho in the final. Madrid's passage to the last four never appeared in doubt at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. Ronaldo tapped Marcelo's cross into the net at the back post in the 26th and Kaka doubled the lead with a shot from the edge of the area 10 minutes later. APOEL exploited a lapse in Madrid's concentration to pull one back, with Gustavo Manduca netting in the 67th. But Madrid responded in the 75th with Ronaldo's free kick curling over the defensive wall into the top corner and Jose Callejon completed an individual run with a low finish into the net five minutes later. While APOEL pulled another back when Esteban Solari scored from the spot, Angel di Maria lobbed the ball over goalkeeper Urko Pardo to round off Madrid's victory. Mourinho's Inter Milan beat Bayern in the 2010 final before the Portuguese coach joined Madrid, which reached the final four for a record 23rd time. "A very dangerous rival," Mourinho said of Bayern. "It's a semifinal I want to play, that the players want to play, I think Europe will enjoy this semifinal." Chelsea, chasing a first Champions League title, is back in the semifinals for the first time in three years despite unconvincingly ousting Benfica. The Blues were in control after the first leg and the quarterfinal turned further in their favour after Garcia's challenge on Ashley Cole in the penalty area led to Lampard netting from spot. But even though Pereira was sent off following a lunge on John Obi Mikel, Benfica did not look like a side playing with 10 men. Chelsea will be thankful that the visitors matched their lack of ruthlessness up front until Garcia's header finally breached Petr Cech's goal. Had Nelson Oliveira found the target soon after, Benfica would have been heading into the last four but Chelsea clung on with Meireles' strike easing the late nerves. "We have been the better team in both legs and I am very proud of my men," Benfica coach Jorge Jesus said through a translator. "We have played with 10 men for the best part of an hour and we were still the better team and made Chelsea look ordinary. We were penalized by the referee unjustly I feel."