Former Manchester United hero Cristiano Ronaldo scored the winner against his old club to give Real Madrid a 2-1 victory at Old Trafford and a place in the Champions League quarter-finals last night.

United, 1-0 up in the game after Real defender Sergio Ramos put through his own goal in the 48th minute and 2-1 ahead on aggregate, were sent reeling in a 10-minute spell midway through the second half as Real secured a 3-2 aggregate success.

The match changed when United winger Nani was harshly shown a red card in the 56th minute by Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir for a clumsy but not dangerous high challenge on Real defender Alvaro Arbeloa.

Ten minutes later substitute Luka Modric, who had only been on the field for seven minutes, lashed in Real’s equaliser from 20 metres and Ronaldo slid in at the far post to turn in a cross from Gonzalo Higuain to seal Real’s place in the last eight.

It was a special night at Old Trafford as 39-year-old Welsh winger Ryan Giggs made his 1,000th competitive appearance and Ronaldo was warmly greeted on his first return to the ground since he left for Real in 2009.

United went close to opening the scoring after 21 minutes when Nemanja Vidic thundered a powerful downward header against Diego Lopez’s left-hand post, only to see the ball rebound to Danny Welbeck.

The England forward had little time to react but shot first time straight at the keeper sitting on the line, who smothered it between his legs. TV replays, however, showed Welbeck was in an offside position and the goal would not have counted.

Both teams made chances as play flowed from one end of the pitch to the other, but United appeared to be the more settled side and went into a deserved lead, even though they were fortunate that Ramos turned Nani’s cross into his own net.

Real, though, laid siege to United’s goal after the hosts were reduced to 10-men and they scored twice in the last 21 minutes as Modric and Ronaldo found the net.

Although Robin van Persie and late substitute Wayne Rooney went close, Real held out for the win to stay on course for a record-extending 10th European Cup success.

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho was pleased with his side’s qualification but admitted that the final result was harsh on Manchester United.

“Independent of the decision, the best team lost. We didn’t play well, we didn’t deserve to win but football is like this,” the Portuguese told ITV1 in a brief interview.

“I’m not speaking about the decision because I’m not sure about it.”

When pressed further, Mourinho added: “But independent of that the best team lost.”

Dortmund through

Former European Cup winners Borussia Dortmund marched into the quarter-finals for the first time in 15 years by beating Shakhtar Donetsk 3-0 to advance 5-2 on aggregate.

First-half goals from central defender Felipe Santana, a replacement for Mats Hummels, and Mario Goetze killed off the tie following the 2-2 first-leg draw in Ukraine last month.

Jakub Blaszczykowski’s close-range effort after 59 minutes buried any hopes for Shakhtar who had come out fighting in the second half.

Last 16 – second legs

Played yesterday
Man. United vs Real Madrid - 1-2 (Real Madrid win 3-2 on aggregate)
B. Dortmund vs S. Donetsk - 3-0 (B. Dortmund win 5-2 on aggregate)

Today
Juventus vs Celtic (first leg: 3-0)
Paris St Germain vs Valencia (first leg: 2-1)

March 12
Schalke 04 vs Galatasaray (first leg: 1-1)
Barcelona vs Milan (first leg: 0-2)

March 13
Malaga vs Porto (first leg: 0-1)
Bayern Munich vs Arsenal (first leg: 3-1)