Real make Anfield their English garden In a match-up between two European heavyweights, 10-time continental winners Real Madrid scored three first half goals to earn a 3-0 Champions League victory over five-time winners Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday night. Cristiano Ronaldo’s opener was followed by a Karim Benzema brace as Los Blancos were never troubled by the Reds throughout the 90 minutes. Real now sit atop Group B with nine points and look well on their way to advancing to next spring’s round of 16. With Gareth Bale out injured, manager Carlo Ancelotti opted for the 4-4-2 formation used over the weekend at Levante. The biggest change came up top with Karim Benzema back in the starting XI up top with Cristiano Ronaldo, while Chicharito was relegated back to the bench. Luka Modric and Toni Kroos took their places in the center of the midfield while James and Isco were flanked out wide. In defense, former Liverpool man Álvaro Arbeloa got the nod in his return to Merseyside, and started alongside Raphael Varane, Pepe and Marcelo. Iker Casillas took up his usual place in goal. After a herky-jerky initial 20 minutes, Real would break open the scoring with a superb goal in the 23rd minute from Ronaldo. The Portuguese superstar played a one-two combination with James, with the Colombian deftly chipping a ball to the onrushing Ronaldo, who managed to wrap his foot around the body of Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel and send a shot past goalkeeper Simon Mignolet. For Ronaldo, it was yet another piece of history as the former Manchester United man tallied his first ever goal at Anfield. Real continued to exert plenty of force in the Liverpool half and did not even have to wait until the half hour mark to make it 2-0. The Reds were unable to clear a ball into the area and eventually Kroos looped over a cross at the far post to Benzema who then popped a header back over Mignolet and into the side netting. In the span of eight minutes, Real had transformed Anfield from a boisterous, rocking football ground into their private English garden. Four minutes before the break Los Blancos made it a 3-0 game courtesy of Benzema’s second goal of the game. A corner kick played in found Pepe who failed to control the ball but it was not cleared by the Liverpool defense and Benzema was there to swipe the ball into the net for the score. The hosts tried desperately to answer but Casillas did very well to tip away a Joe Allen shot off a cross from Balotelli, and then a minute later Philippe Coutinho’s right-footer struck the post. After some early moments from Liverpool to start the second half, Real reasserted their control over the affairs and should have gone up by four but Ronaldo failed to beat Mignolet in a one-on-one in the 64th minute. With the match firmly in hand in the 75th minute and Saturday’s Clásico on the horizon, Ancelotti took off Ronaldo to give his star player a little extra rest and brought on Sami Khedira. Mostly whistled throughout the match by the Liverpool fans, Ronaldo exited the pitch amid a mix of boos and applause, the latter in recognition of the Portuguese’s fine play on the evening.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 04:01:12 +0000
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