BEIJING, March 7 -- As Roma's 4-2 aggregate win over Real Madrid in the Champions League is no surprise to Italian soccer fans.

    Luciano Spalletti's side is Serie A's most beautiful team to watch, and now the big results are following too.

    "The lads played a perfect match. The team deserve it and have shown great maturity," Spalletti said after Wednesday's 2-1 win in Madrid in the last 16, second leg.

    Elsewhere, Schalke beat Porto 4-1 on penalties following a 1-1 draw over two legs.

    Roma compares with Arsenal in England and Barcelona in Spain. Their quick passing is a joy to behold and the fluency of movement makes a mockery of those who say formations are sacred.

    Brazilian Mancini can pop up in any area of the field at any time, and rather than punish him as some coaches would, Spalletti actively encourages the midfielder.

    Rodrigo Taddei, Alberto Aquilani, Simone Perrotta and David Pizarro are almost as adept at the trick while Italy's Daniele De Rossi offers a solid anchor to the fluid midfield.

    Beating nine-time European champion 2-1 at home and away may finally make Europe stand up and take notice of a team that is second in Serie A and just six points behind Inter Milan.

    The gap would have been less if Inter had not equalized late on in a 1-1 draw at San Siro last month.

    Wednesday's confident victory in the Bernabeu, where Taddei and super sub Mirko Vucinic headed in either side of Raul's strike, was the best preparation for the quarterfinals.

    Last season Roma beat Manchester United 2-1 at home in the first leg of the last eight before being thumped 1-7 away.

    Some teams would have been badly affected by such a defeat but Roma took it on the chin and realized it was a freak result.

    Spalletti tried to keep his feet on the ground after his latest success.

    "We have to be cautious and keep our heads," he told a news conference. "Too much euphoria is a dangerous thing. After all we also have to concentrate on the league and we have got a tough game coming up at the weekend."

    Real Madrid's worst fears were however confirmed on Wednesday and the loss will have major repercussions at a club that measures success in terms of European trophies.

    "We didn't have that magic we've shown on other nights," said skipper Raul, whose 61st Champions League goal was to no avail.

    "It's a very heavy blow, a really big disappointment because the Champions League was one of our big objectives this season and now we are out of it."

    At the back Pepe gave further evidence of poor judgement in picking up two needless bookings, while his fellow defenders struggled to deal with Roma's sharp passing and running off the ball.

    "We lacked intensity and tension, maybe because we were worried about their counter-attacks," said centre-back Fabio Cannavaro.

    Only two weeks ago, club president Ramon Calderon was talking up his side's chances of a European and domestic double, saying the squad was the "best in the world" and the team was "playing like a machine." Last night he changed his tune.

    "This is clearly a failure," he said. "When the season ends we will have to sit down and analyze the situation and if there are chances of strengthening the squad we will take them."

    (Source: Shanghai Daily/Agencies)