14.03.2012 » Real Madrid 4-1 CSKA. Russians wrecked by Merengues attacking trio
Real Madrid booked their ticket to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, after running over CSKA Moscow by 4-1 (5-2 in aggregate), this Wednesday night, at the Santiago Bernabéu. Cristiano Ronaldo added another brace to his 42-goal tally this season, as he saw Gonzalo Higuaín and Karim Benzema also putting their names in the score sheet. The Merengues will now wait for the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals draw that will take place this Friday and which include the following 8 clubs: Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Benfica, Marseille and APOEL.
Cristiano Ronaldo game photos in Real Madrid vs CSKA Moscow
Real Madrid 4-1 CSKA Moscow goals and highlights:
CSKA Moscow had managed to held Real Madrid to a 1-1 draw in Moscow just a couple of weeks ago, but they were surely aware of this Wednesday's game difficulty being raised exponentially, as the Merengues were about to host them at the Santiago Bernabéu. However, the start of the game showed us an anxious Spanish side, missing a lot more passes than usual and which inevitably led to a few problems when it came to connect the team sectors.
Even though Real Madrid didn't have what we could call a brilliant start, they would still be the team taking the lead before the first half an hour was up, thanks to a Gonzalo Higuaín easy tap-in goal. Sami Khedira made a good lob pass to Kaká on the left, leaving the Brazilian with plenty of space to control the ball and assist Higuaín for an easy finish, making it 1-0 for José Mourinho's men. The Argentinian opener allowed Real Madrid to become more relaxed and the team's typical attacking transitions started showing a better pass criteria than before.
With 61% of ball possession in the first-half, but still a single goal advantage, Real Madrid knew it could be vital to score another after the break, in order avoid the Russians to keep dreaming with a good result. Mourinho probably infused his side precisely with those thoughts and the Merengues found a way to extend the lead from a long-range shot taken by Cristiano Ronaldo. Similarly to what happened last season, when Tottenham hosted Real Madrid at the White Hart Lane and Ronaldo fired a rocket from outside the area leading to a Heurelho Gomes big fail, it was now time for CSKA's goalkeeper Chepchugou to flop and commit an enourmous mistake at the Bernabéu. The Russian goalkeeper had already prevented CR7 from scoring a few more times both in the 1st and the 2nd leg, but he revealed his weakness when dealing with Ronaldo's trademark tomahawk long range shot and Real Madrid found themselves comfortably in the game, with 2 goals up.
It wasn't time to hit the brakes yet though and 15 minutes later, when the clock was ticking the 70th minute, Karim Benzema returned to goals. It only took the Frenchman close to 30 seconds to hit the back of the net, since he had replaced Gonzalo Higuaín just moments before. The Real Madrid forward saw his first shot being stopped by CSKA's goalkeeper, but he wouldn't forgive again when he saw the rebound not being cleared away. With 3-0 in the scoreline, no one doubted that the Merengues weren't going to let this game slip away.
The Russian team found their small moment of glory close to the 77th minute, when the former Manchester United player, Tosic, managed to beat Pepe in a concerning way as he simpled cutted inside and then prepared a very accurate left-foot shot. Iker Casillas couldn't have done anything but to follow the shot's trajectory, which would still hit the crossbar before finding the back of the net. However, with 3-1 and still 13 minutes left to play, chances of CSKA scoring another 2 goals were so slim that even the Russians didn't seem to believe much in it.
The final blow was given by Cristiano Ronaldo, already in added time, with the Portuguese simply tapping the ball to an empty net, after being assisted by Karim Benzema. Ronaldo has now 6 goals in this UEFA Champions League edition, allowing him to be ranked 3rd in the top goalscorers standings, behind Bayern Munich's Mario Gomez (10 goals) and Barcelona's Lionel Messi (12 goals).
| UEFA Champions League - Top goalscorers standings table (2011-2012)
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|
#
|
Player Name
|
Team
|
Goals
|
1 |
Lionel Messi |
Barcelona |
12 |
2 |
Mario Gomez |
Bayern Munich |
10 |
3 |
Cristiano Ronaldo |
Real Madrid |
6 |
The UEFA Champions League quarter-finals draw will be made this Friday and there will certainly be a lot of expectation surrounding what fate has been reserved for the Merengues. With a possible scenario of facing teams as strong as Barcelona or as unexperienced as APOEL, both Real Madrid and Barça fans are surely hoping for not being forced to play another Clasico just yet...
Real Madrid line-up vs CSKA Moscow:
Goalkeeper: Casillas
Defenders:
Marcelo, Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Arbeloa
Midfielders:
Xabi Alonso, Khedira
Attackers: Ozil, Kaká, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuaín
| Match stats provided by www.ronaldo7.net
|
||
|---|---|---|
Real Madrid
|
vs
|
CSKA Moscow
|
4 |
Goals |
1 |
2 |
Assists |
0 |
15 |
Shots |
7 |
7 |
Shots on goal |
3 |
4 |
Corner kicks |
3 |
13 |
Fouls commited |
18 |
1 |
Yellow cards |
4 |
0 |
Red cards |
0 |
63% |
Ball possession |
37% |
Real Madrid next game is for La Liga against Malaga, this next Sunday (18-03-2012). In the meanwhile you can watch Manchester City vs Sporting, Besiktas vs Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao vs Manchester United, all from our football live streams section. Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to be on the line-up when Real Madrid hosts Malaga this next Sunday.
Real Madrid vs Malaga kick-off time (14-03-2012):
Jakarta (Indonesia) | GMT+7: 03:30
Spain (Madrid) | GMT+1: 21:30
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | GMT+0: 20:30
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | GMT-2: 18:30
New York (United States) | GMT-5: 15:30
Los Angeles (United States) | GMT-8: 12:30
Beijing (China) | GMT-8: 12:30
Sources: ronaldo7.net / realmadrid.com
