BELGRADE, April 2: Manchester United beat Roma 2-0 away and Barcelona won 1-0 at Schalke in their Champions League quarter-final, first-leg matches on Tuesday to take big steps towards a semi-final showdown.

Goals by Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney either side of halftime gave United victory at the Stadio Olimpico as the English champions continued to torment Roma.

Alex Ferguson’s side have beaten their Italian rivals in three of their last four matches and appear set to send them packing from Europe’s premier club competition again after an 8-3 aggregate drubbing at the same stage last season.

United won the second leg of that contest 7-1 and only an unlikely slip-up in the second leg at Old Trafford will prevent them from reaching their second successive semi-final.

Ronaldo headed United into a 39th minute-lead at the Stadio Olimpico on Tuesday with his 36th goal of the season in all competitions and Rooney sealed the win midway through the second half when he scrambled home a loose ball from close range.

United weathered an early second half onslaught but could have won by a bigger margin after Ronaldo shaved the post and Michael Carrick came close with a curling low drive.

Barca striker Bojan Krkic scored his first Champions League goal and became the second-youngest scorer in the competition at the age of 17 years and just over seven months to put the Catalans in the driving seat of their tie against Schalke.

On Wednesday, Arsenal are at home to last year’s finalists Liverpool in an all-English clash.—Reuters