Cristiano Ronaldo ended his away scoring drought with an impressive second-half goal as Real Madrid won 2-0 at Roma on Wednesday in the first leg of the Round of 16 in the Champions League.

The victory also marked a successful debut for Zinedine Zidane as Madrid's manager in the elite competition, with the 10-time champion taking a big step toward the quarterfinals.

It was Ronaldo's first goal on the road since Nov. 29, when he scored a penalty against Eibar.

"Everyone expects (Ronaldo) to score and today he was able to," Zidane said. "I'm happy for these two away goals and that we didn't concede any goals."

Shortly before the hour mark, Ronaldo collected a pass up the left flank from Marcelo, rapidly cut inside — moving the ball with a deft flick of his legs — and launched a powerful shot that deflected off Roma fullback Alessandro Florenzi.

"He's a player against whom you can't concede anything. He can go right or left, it doesn't matter which way," Florenzi said. "I was also unlucky, because I deflected the shot and the ball went in right under the crossbar."

After scoring, Ronaldo ran toward Zidane and hugged the French great, who replaced Rafa Benitez last month.

Substitute Jese then sealed the victory with an angled shot four minutes from the end after Roma failed to take advantage of several opportunities for an equalizer.

At the final whistle, Zidane congratulated each of his players one by one, including those who didn't play.

"I do it because the team is the most important thing," said Zidane, who scored the winning goal for Madrid in the 2002 Champions League final against Bayer Leverkusen. "It's the players who make the difference and today it was Ronaldo — it's often him — but everyone's contribution is important, even those who don't play much. We win all together."

It was the 89th career goal in the Champions League for the three-time FIFA world player of the year — adding to his record haul — and his 12th this season.

The return leg is on March 8 in Madrid.

New Roma coach Luciano Spalletti, who replaced Rudi Garcia last month, wasn't too disappointed.

"We played a great match," Spalletti said. "We were just unfortunate on several chances and we're still conceding too much in defense."

Still, the scoreline was an improvement for Roma compared to recent encounters with European powers.

Roma was beaten 6-1 at Barcelona in November and fell 7-1 to Bayern Munich at home last season.

The Giallorossi also lost 7-1 at home to Manchester United in the 2007 quarterfinals — a match in which Ronaldo scored twice.

While Madrid controlled for long stretches Wednesday, Zidane's side had trouble finding the target until Ronaldo's goal.

The visitors' only significant chance in the first half was a long-distance volley from Marcelo that just missed the target shortly after the half-hour mark.

Roma relied on counterattacks and the speed of Mohamed Salah on the right flank, although it was Stephan El Shaarawy who had the better opportunities, chipping high in the 17th following a precise cross from newly-signed Diego Perotti.

El Shaarawy, who was recently loaned from AC Milan, also had a chance seconds before the break but was stopped by Raphael Varane just as he was about to shoot.

Ronaldo, meanwhile, struggled to make an impact early on, shooting a long free kick well wide for his only sight of goal in the first period

Neither side managed a shot on target in the first half.

Early in the second, James Rodriguez had his head bloodied when William Vainqueur reached up with his boot to intercept a cross from Ronaldo and made contact with the Colombia international.

Roma substitute Edin Dzeko set up Vainqueur for a long-distance attempt at an equalizer that went wide and Ronaldo then nearly scored again. His delicate header made fans inside the Stadio Olimpico hold their breath as it went across the box before ending up just wide.

Jese, who replaced Rodriguez, then had an easy time beating Roma defender Lucas Digne for Madrid's second goal, with goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny having no chance.

Ronaldo then exited to a standing ovation from the small pocket of about 1,000 Madrid fans, who chanted "Ronaldo, Ronaldo."

Julian Draxler scored two classy goals to lead Wolfsburg to a 3-2 away win over Champions League newcomer AA Ghent in the Round of 16 on Wednesday.

At 22, Draxler confirmed himself as the new creative force of a team which had been struggling, scoring just before and just after halftime in the first leg match.

On the hour mark, Max Kruse finished off another smooth move with a goal that made it seem like the second leg would be little more than a formality.

But Ghent's Sven Kums scored in the 80th minute and Kalifa Coulibaly made the game even closer nine minutes later.

Wolfsburg defended high from the start and harried Ghent's midfield throughout, belying Ghent's robust home reputation.

Draxler made all the difference. In the 44th minute, he first swiveled around a defender and sprinted down the left sideline before working a perfect one-two with Vierinha and finishing the move off with a low shot past Matz Sels.

His second goal, in the 54th minute, was perhaps even better — latching on to a bad back pass, he beat the last defender, Stefan Mitrovic, with a ball through the legs before chipping over Sels into the empty net.

It was an important payoff from Wolfsburg's most expensive player and also showed his promise for the German national team. Draxler was brought in after top player Kevin De Bruyne moved to Manchester City, but the team has been struggling for much of this season and is currently eighth in the Bundesliga.

But Drexler's performance showed that a struggling team in the German league is still a massive challenge for a Champions League rookie like Ghent.

Still, Wolfsburg was frustrated with the late goals which left Ghent still with an outside chance in the return game. "We shifted a gear back," said Draxler. "That was our mistake."

The Belgian champion was euphoric about reaching the knockout stage, but on Wednesday it struggled from the kickoff.

Ghent, which won its first league title last year, has charmed everyone with open attacking play but even if Wolfsburg's defense was hit with suspension and injury, it was only able to thrill the home fans at the 20,000-capacity Ghelamco Arena in the last 10 minutes.