AS Roma's midfielder Alberto Aquilani (left) reacts after a tackle by Manchester United's midfielder Michael Carrick during their Champions League quarter-final, first-leg match at the Rome Olympic stadium yesterday. United won 2-0. - AP

LONDON (AP):

MANCHESTER UNITED and FC Barcelona won away from home yesterday, and both will be heavy favourites to advance to the Champions League semi-finals next week.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney scored a goal each to give United a 2-0 win over AS Roma in the first leg of the quarter-finals. Teenage striker Bojan Krkic scored for Barcelona in their 1-0 win over Schalke.

"We can't take anything for granted, but we definitely feel like we can reach the semi-finals," United manager Alex Ferguson said.

The second legs are scheduled for next Wednesday.

Ronaldo scored his seventh goal in eight Champions League matches in the 39th minute, jumping over Marco Cassetti and heading in a cross from Paul Scholes. The goal was Ronaldo's 36th in all competitions this season.

Roma had several chances to equalise early in the second half at the Stadio Olimpico but couldn't put their shots on target.

Double advantage

Instead, Rooney doubled the advantage, knocking in a loose ball after Park Ji-sung headed a long cross from Wes Brown into the box in the 66th. Roma goalkeeper Alexander Doni got his hands on the ball, but couldn't control it.

"Ronaldo's goal changed the game for us," Ferguson said. "I thought Roma had some good chances the first 15 minutes of the second half. But there are breaks in a football match and I think they were with us today."

Roma played without injured captain Francesco Totti, who was replaced by Mirko Vucinic. Park was playing in the place of United midfielder Ryan Giggs.

"We deserved more. The result penalised us more than the way the game went," Roma coach Luciano Spalletti said. "Now qualifying will be very difficult, but we can't commit the error of thinking it's already over."

United defender Nemanja Vidic left the game after being injured while attempting a header over Vucinic. He was replaced by John O'Shea.

"It's a knee injury," Ferguson said. "We're just praying it's not anything other than a nerve injury."

There were worries over potential fan violence after incidents during United's previous two visits to Rome, but no serious disturbances were reported yesterday.

United will host Roma in the second leg at Old Trafford, where the English champions humiliated the Italians 7-1 a year ago.

Two-time champions Barcelona remained unbeaten in the Champions League this season.

The 17-year-old Krkic put Barcelona ahead in the 12th minute in a closed AufSchalke Arena. Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer saved a shot from Thierry Henry, but the Frenchman got the ball back and rolled it across goal to Krkic, who scored from close range.

"We played well on the flanks, we won the ball, we controlled most of the game," Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard said. "Bojan made all the right decisions on the field and behaved like an experienced player."

Schalke were playing in the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time, and looked overmatched at times, even though Barcelona were playing without Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho and Deco.

"We should have put them under more pressure from the start," Schalke coach Mirko Slomka said. "It's not going to be easy in Barcelona but we wouldn't be going there if we didn't have any hope."

Today, Arsenal host five-time champions Liverpool and Fenerbahce host Chelsea. Their second legs are set for next Tuesday.