Schalke 1
Real Madrid 6
REAL MADRID HAVE one foot and four toes in the quarter finals of the Champions League after battering Schalke 6-1.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men ripped their German hosts apart with a ruthless display of attacking football. Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo did most of the damage for the Spanish side and Real will be able to rest many of their first team stars for the return leg with little fear of a Schalke comeback.
Real hit the front after 13 minutes as Bale worked the ball into the German box. His pass to Karim Benzema took a nick off a defender but the French international reacted first to sweep home. Bale got himself on the score-sheet next as he danced by two defenders and struck a low drive home with the outside of his left boot.
Ronaldo hit the post with a fizzing effort in the first-half but was not denied for long. With 52 minutes on the clock, the world’s best player performed three mesmerising step-overs before lashing the ball home.
Benzema made it 4-0 soon after after playing a one-two with Ronaldo and scoring from a tight angle. Sergio Ramos’ pin-point pass to Bale unlocked the Schalke defence to make it 5-0 with more than 20 minutes left on the clock. Fortunately for the Germans, their opponents eased off the throttle in the closing stages.
Benzema turned provider after 89 minutes as he slipped Ronaldo through on goal. The Portuguese rounded the goalkeeper to make it 6-0. Goal of the night was a consolation strike from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who dispatched a screamer off the underside of the Real Madrid crossbar.
