Real Madrid secured their place in the knockout round of the Champions League with an emphatic 5-1 win over RB Salzburg at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The 15 winners and current holders had surprisingly lost three of their first six games to sit surprisingly close to the dreaded last eight in the league stage.
But a determined and energetic Madrid came out of the dressing room to put in a standout performance, showing all the panache and class you’d expect to see from a side containing Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior.
It was another Brazilian, Rodrygo, who started the party for Madrid, opening the scoring in the 23rd minute with a measured finish into the far corner. This particular goal was steady, but what followed from the tricky end was absolutely spectacular. Cutting in from the left, he ran onto Bellingham’s no-look back heel for a wonderful strike past the outstretched glove of Janis Blaswich.
Mbappé scored one of the easiest goals he has ever scored Madrid His run shortly after the break, stealing the ball from Blaswich before tapping into an empty net, before Vinicius stepped in with the first of his two goals.
Running over Luka Modric’s ball behind the full-back, the Ball of OThe runner-up showed some blisteringly quick feet to open the angle, cutting inside for an unstoppable effort into the far corner.
His second was the result of a counter-blitz that saw makeshift right-back Federico Valverde waltz across the middle of the park before laying the ball on a plate for the 24-year-old. A body flick later and Vinicius had slid in on goal, sliding easily past Blaswich.
The only sour note for Madrid was that Thibaut Courtois lost his clean sheet to Mads Bidstrup with five minutes remaining, but he has moved up to 16th of the game. Champions League table and sit just one point away from the top eight.
|
players |
Ratings |
|---|---|
|
GK: Thibaut Courtois |
7.5/10 |
|
RB: Federico Valverde |
8.2/10 |
|
CB: Raul Asencio |
7.3/10 |
|
CB: Antonio Rudiger |
7.8/10 |
|
LB: Ferland Mendy |
7.3/10 |
|
CM: Dani Ceballos |
7.4/10 |
|
CM: Luka Modric |
8.6/10 |
|
MR: Rodrigo |
8.8/10 |
|
A.M.: Jude Bellingham |
8.7/10 |
|
LM: Vinicius Junior |
9.0/10 |
|
ST: Kylian Mbappé |
7.9/10 |
|
SUB: David Alaba (64′ for Bellingham) |
6.2/10 |
|
SUB: Arda Guler (64′ by Ceballos) |
7.0/10 |
|
SUB: Endrick (71′ for Rodrygo) |
6.3/10 |
|
SUB: Brahim Diaz (71′ by Mbappé) |
6.3/10 |
|
SUB: Jacobo Ramon (78′ for Rüdiger) |
6.3/10 |
Unused subs: Andriy Lunin (GK), Fran Gonzalez (GK), Fran Garcia, Jesus Vallejo, Aurelien Tchouameni, Chema Andres,
