Champions League: Real Madrid earn come-from-behind win against Napoli

Defending champions Real Madrid showed their experience and depth on Wednesday night as they came from behind to beat Napoli 3-1 in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 tie at Santiago Bernabeu.

After Insigne netted in the first of the match for Napoli, Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos and Casemiro stepped up and found the back of the net to put Madrid in a good position for the second leg in Naples.

Though the scoresheet gives the match a one-sided look but the game was far from that. Napoli gave Madrid enough worries but could finish only once.

Real Madrid began the match at a high and Karim Benzema had the chance to set Madrid right on in the 3rd minute itself. Cristiano Ronaldo picked Benzema with a wonderful cross from the right and the Frenchman managed a good shot only to be punched out by Pepe Reina.

Napoli then nicely went forward with the ball and as Insigne received a beautiful through ball, he noticed Keylor Navas completely off the line and slotted him a gorgeous curling strike into the bottom right corner.

Despite going a goal down, Madrid looked settled and patiently worked out the ball. In the 14th minute, Benzema missed another chance to score shooting wide but he made up for it in the 18th minute when he wonderfully headed in a delicious cross from Carvajal.

Post Madrid's equaliser, the home team pressed more and more while Napoli seemed to be occasional highlights. From Modric , Kroos, Marcelo, James and Carvajal to Benzema and Ronaldo, all Madristas were making important runs and cutting edge over Napoli.

Close to end of the first half (43'), Ronaldo raced down the right flank and made a very intelligent cross towards Benzema but the Frenchman couldn't get a proper touch to the ball owing to severe pressure from Reina and his shot hit the post and deflected out.

Los Blancos began the second half in the same fashion and that yielded result in the 49th minute when Ronaldo yet again created havoc on the right flank and let through a wonderful ball towards Kroos who made no mistake and sweeped home a beauty.

Despite Napoli's attempts, Real Madrid displayed their experience of this level to close down the Napoli attack well.

With both teams seeing equal amount of ball, Casemiro induced the third goal for Madrid out of nothing in the 54th minute. With pressure from the Napoli defenders outside the box, James sliding let the ball towards Casemiro who shot home a thunderous bolt in just the first touch.