Cristiano Ronaldo yesterday ended a brief goalscoring slump to help holder Real Madrid beat Schalke 2-0 in the last 16 of the Champions League.
Ronaldo headed home in the 26th minute of the first leg match, after going three matches without a goal in the Spanish league.
He also set up Marcelo for the second goal.
Real Madrid routed Schalke 6-1 last season at the same stadium with a ruthless attacking performance, advancing 9-2 on aggregate. This time, Schalke defended much better but did not threaten much either.
The closest they came to scoring was in the 74th, when Felix Platte, making his Champions League debut, fired a volley from the edge of the area against the crossbar.
The second leg in Spain is on March 10.
In the night's other match, Danilo scored a late penalty to earn Porto a 1-1 draw at Basel.
Madrid stretched their winning streak in the Champions League to 10, scoring 27 goals and conceding three.
The Spanish club had won only three of 27 trips to Germany before yesterday.
Schalke defended mostly with five men, often with eight and sometimes had 10 players behind the ball as Madrid enjoyed two-thirds of the possession.
Ronaldo had a simple header for his 73rd goal in the Champions league after Dani Carvajal floated a cross behind the back of Schalke's defence.
In the second half, he shook off two defenders to lay the ball on for Marcelo, who curled a fine shot into the top corner from the edge of the penalty area to complete the victory.