MANCHESTER United won 2-0 at Roma to close in on a semifinal berth in European soccer’s Champions League, while Barcelona beat Schalke 1-0.

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

“We can’t take anything for granted, but we definitely feel like we can reach the semifinals,” 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 equalize early in the second half at the Olympic stadium but couldn’t put its shots on target.

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 in 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 place of United midfielder Ryan Giggs.

“We deserved more. The result penalized 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 Tuesday.

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

Two-time champion 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 was playing in the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time, and looked overmatched at times, even though Barcelona was playing without Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho and Deco.

(SD-Agencies)