Spanish football's dominance in Europe came within seconds of crumbling this week.

Barcelona and Real Madrid headed into their respective Champions League ties against AS Roma and Juventus with three-goal advantages on aggregate.

Whereas Barca comfortably beat Roma 4-1 at the Camp Nou, Real won 3-0 at the Juventus Stadium courtesy of Cristiano Ronaldo's brace.

It seemed inevitable that La Liga's two giants would progress into the semi-finals, so safe to say everyone was shocked when Barcelona lost 3-0 in the second leg to exit the competition.

Lionel Messi and co. were powerless as Roma ran riot at the Stadio Olimpico to stage the most incredible comeback.

And 24 hours later, Juventus looked like they were on the brink of doing the very same thing to Real having taken a 3-0 lead at the Bernabeu.

Los Blancos were second best the whole evening, but in the 92nd minute, referee Michael Oliver awarded a controversial penalty to the hosts to win the game.

RONALDO TO THE RESCUE

Cool as ice, Ronaldo rifled his spot-kick into the top corner past Wojciech Szczesny, who was brought on by Juventus following Gianluigi Buffon's red card for his wild protests.

The Portugal international was once again the hero for his side, which must have been a painful sight for Messi given he was unable to save Barcelona from elimination.

But perhaps that was always going to be the case judging by how Ronaldo and Messi reacted to the goals they conceded in their respective games.

An interesting video has emerged online comparing Ronaldo and Messi's behaviour when Juventus and Roma scored and the difference is remarkable.

Whereas Ronaldo tried to rally his teammates and gestured to stay focused after every goal, Messi simply looked at the ground or walked away without saying anything.

RONALDO A TRUE LEADER

Class from Ronaldo. The Portuguese has been slammed in the past for showing petulance after conceding goals, but on Tuesday night he didn't stop trying to motivate his teammates.

Perhaps if Messi had shown half as much passion against Roma his side may have reached the semi-finals, too.