Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring after just nine minutes as Real Madrid swept to a convincing 3-0 victory over Galatasaray in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday.

Ronaldo s delicate chip shot was followed 20 minutes later by a close-range strike from Karim Benzema as a dominant Madrid moved effortlessly through the gears.Gonzalo Higuain came on for Benzema in the 65th and headed home eight minutes later, leaving Galatasaray with a near-impossible task in Tuesday s second leg in Istanbul to reach the semifinals.

Ronaldo set the early tone with an exquisite piece of skill, running on to Mesut Oezil s defense-splitting pass before lifting the ball over goalkeeper Fernando Muslera and into the far corner of the net. Since his arrival at Madrid, the German midfielder has supplied Ronaldo with 25 goalscoring assists.

Didier Drogba could have equalized for the visitors in the 12th after controlling the ball on the edge of the penalty area, but his shot flew high. Three minutes later, Wesley Sneijder s effort also sailed over the Madrid crossbar in one of the visitors best periods of the game.Muslera was forced to make a good, low save in the 18th minute from a shot by Oezil before Madrid made its superiority count for a second time.

Benzema was picked out by a long cross from the right by Michael Essien and the France international was allowed just enough time to unleash a low, right-foot shot inside Muslera s near post.Madrid continued to the control game in the second half, while Galatsaray had very little to show for its efforts and lacked any real bit in the final third.Angel Di Maria had a shot at close range, but the ball was held by Muslera in the 62nd.

However, there was nothing the Galatasaray keeper could do in the 73rd minute when Higuain rose to meet a free kick by Xabi Alonso and sent a glancing header into the corner of the net.In Wednesday s other quarterfinal, first leg match, Malaga held Borussia Dortmund to a 0-0 draw in Spain.