Real Madrid`s smiles as he sits on the pitch during their Champions League round of 16 soccer match at Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester, England, Tuesday, March 5, 2013. Real won the match 2-1 to beat Manchester United 3-2 on aggregate.
Cristiano Ronaldo sent Real Madrid into the Champions League quarterfinals at the expense of his former club Manchester United by hitting his 40th goal of the season to clinch a 2-1 victory on Tuesday.
The forward completed Madrid‘s comeback in the 69th minute to secure a 3-2 aggregate win after the Spanish champions took advantage of United being reduced to 10 men.
“(United) were very aggressive, they were very well organized tactically and the match was very difficult for us,” Madrid manager Jose Mourinho said. “But I doubt that 11 against 11 we can win that match.”
Madrid gifted United the opener at the start of the second half when Sergio Ramos deflected Nani’s cross into his own net.
But the game swung back in the visitors‘ favor in the 56th minute when Nani was sent off for a studs-up challenge on Alvaro Arbeloa.
Madrid seized control of the last-16 match with two goals in three minutes, with Luka Modric netting a powerful equalizer off the post in the 66th before Ronaldo tapped in the winner.
A game that started with affection for the returning Ronaldo and a 1,000th appearance for United’s Ryan Giggs ended in acrimony.
At the final whistle, Giggs was angrily pointing at referee Cuneyt Cakir as Rio Ferdinand sarcastically clapped in his face, and manager Alex Ferguson made his fury clear on the touchline.
It was a defeat that was hard to take for United _ and there was sympathy from Mourinho.
“We didn‘t play well, we didn’t deserve to win,” Mourinho said. “Independent of that (the red card) the best team lost.”
A man so often linked with one day replacing the 71-year-old Ferguson at Old Trafford endeared himself to the United crowd by walking off the pitch without celebrating.
The celebrations in the ground came before kickoff.
And the cheers for Giggs on his 1,000th professional game were even eclipsed by the roars for Ronaldo on his first appearance since leaving for Madrid in 2009 for a world record 80 million pounds (then $131 million).
They soon gave way to jeers for the returning hero, whose first-half contribution was limited.
Instead, after Ferguson had praised Madrid‘s counterattacking qualities before the match, it was United using their speed on the break to unsettle Madrid.
And the surprising decision to leave Wayne Rooney on the bench until the 73rd appeared to be vindicated as Danny Welbeck was at the heart of United’s attacking threat.
But United struggled to find a way past Diego Lopez on a night when the Madrid goalkeeper made fine saves.
Ramos bundled Robin van Persie‘s mis-hit effort clear after the striker latched onto Giggs’ fine cross after 14 minutes.
Another delivery from Giggs _ this time a corner _ led to Nemanja Vidic heading against the post and Welbeck‘s rebound was smothered by Lopez, who was in goal in place of the injured Iker Casillas.
Madrid did find the net in the 33rd through Gonzalo Higuain but it was disallowed due to Sergio Ramos’ foul on Van Persie.
Having edged the first half without anything to show for it, United was 2-1 in front on aggregate within three minutes of the restart.
Raphael Varane gave the ball away on the byline and Nani seized possession before whipping in a cross that Ramos turned into his own goal after Welbeck‘s slight touch.
Fortune didn’t appear to be favoring Madrid, but that was reversed inside 10 minutes when Nani saw red for his flying tackle into Arbeloa‘s chest as they both went for the ball.
As Nani remonstrated with the referee, a furious Ferguson charged down from his seat in the elevated dugout to the touchline.
The crowd was inflamed by the sending off, and Ferguson was gesturing to whip them up into a frenzy.
Instead, Madrid’s spirits were raised, with Modric scoring seven minutes after replacing Arbeloa.
The Croatia midfielder cut to his right across the top of the penalty area and unleashed a 25-yard shot that eluded the left hand of diving goalkeeper David De Gea and went in off a post.
Modric helped to create the second, with Mesut Ozil then releasing Higuain, who sent a low cross across the penalty area. At the far post, Ronaldo was primed to slide in past Rafael and tap the ball into the net but there was no celebrating the goal that broke the hearts of his former club.
United‘s response was to replace Tom Cleverley with Rooney but the hosts were repeatedly thwarted by Lopez.
While United’s hopes of contesting the Wembley Stadium final were over, England was in danger of having no teams in the quarterfinals for the first time since 1996. Arsenal trailed Bayern Munich 3-1 going into the second leg in Germany next week. Defending champion Chelsea and Manchester City were eliminated in the group stage.
In Tuesday‘s other match, Borussia Dortmund defeated Ukraine’s Shaktar Donetsk 3-0 to advance on 5-2 aggregate. (AP)
레알 마드리드, 맨유꺾고 챔스 8강 진출!
스페인 프로축구의 명문 레알 마드리드가 유럽 축구연맹(UEFA) 챔피언스리그에서 맨체스터 유나이티드(잉글랜드•이하 맨유)를 제압하고 8강에 안착했다.
레알 마드리드는 6일(한국시간) 영국 맨체스터의 올드 트래퍼드에서 열린 대회 16강 2차전에서 1-1로 맞선 후반 24분 ‘골잡이’ 크리스티아누 호날두의 결승골이 터 져 2-1로 승리했다.
지난달 14일 1차전에서 1-1로 비긴 레알 마드리드는 2경기 합계 3-2를 기록, 8강 진출을 확정했다.
후반 3분 세르히오 라모스의 자책골로 뒤진 레알 마드리드는 후반 21분 루카 모드리치, 24분 호날두가 잇따라 골을 터뜨려 대역전극을 펼쳤다.
2009년 맨유에서 레알 마드리드 유니폼으로 갈아입은 이후 처음으로 올드 트래퍼드를 찾은 호날두는 올 시즌 챔피언스리그에서 8번째 골을 기록, 친정 구장에서 이름값을 해냈다.
전반전에는 맨체스터 유나이티드가 더 많은 찬스를 만들었다.
성인 선수로서 1천 경기 출전의 금자탑을 세운 베테랑 라이언 긱스(40) 등이 중 심이 되어 기회를 만들어 갔다.
전반 20분 긱스는 오른쪽 측면에서 볼을 잘 지키며 코너킥을 유도했다.
긱스가 직접 찬 코너킥을 비디치가 헤딩슛으로 연결했으나 오른쪽 골대를 맞고 튀어나왔고, 대니 웰백이 다시 찬 공은 골키퍼 디에고 로페스 다리 사이에 걸리고 말았다.
점유율에서 월등히 앞선 레알 마드리드는 측면 돌파를 위주로 한 맨유의 공세를 잘 차단했지만 호날두가 많은 기회를 잡지 못한 채 골문을 열지 못했다.
전반 종료 직전 앙헬 디 마리아가 예상치 못한 부상으로 그라운드를 떠난 불운을 겪은 레알 마드리드는 후반 3분 라모스의 자책골로 또 한 번 울었다.
나니(맨유)의 슈팅이 대니 웰백을 스쳐 라모스 쪽으로 흘렀고, 라모스가 순간적으로 발을 갖다댄 것이 그대로 골문으로 들어가고 말았다.
그러나 후반 11분 나니가 볼을 다투는 과정에서 알바로 아르벨로아의 가슴 쪽으로 발을 높이 들다가 부딪쳐 퇴장당한 이후 분위기가 완전히 뒤바뀌었다.
수적 우세를 점한 레알 마드리드는 후반 14분 루카 모드리치를 투입하면서 공격 력 강화를 시도, 7분 만에 결실을 봤다.
모드리치는 페널티지역 정면에서 강력한 오른발 슈팅을 날렸고, 이 공은 오른쪽 골포스트를 맞고 그대로 빨려 들어갔다.
이어 후반 24분에는 호날두가 골지역 왼쪽에서 이과인의 절묘한 크로스를 미끄러지면서 밀어 넣어 승기를 레알 마드리드 쪽으로 가져왔다.
1차전에 이어 호날두는 골 세리머니를 하지 않은 채 동료와 조용히 자축했다.
맨유는 후반 추가시간 비디치의 회심의 헤딩슛이 골키퍼 로페스의 선방에 막히는 등 막바지 파상공세를 펼쳤으나 끝내 골문은 열리지 않았다.
한편 독일 분데스리가의 강호 도르트문트는 지그날-이두나 파크에서 열린 샤흐타르 도네츠크(우크라이나)와의 16강 2차전에서 3-0으로 완승을 거뒀다.
1차전에서 2-2로 무승부를 기록한 도르트문트는 합계 5-2로 8강에 진출했다.
도르트문트는 전반 31분 펠리페 산타나의 헤딩골로 앞서갔고, 6분 뒤 마리오 괴 체의 추가골과 후반 14분 야쿱 블라스치코프스키의 쐐기골까지 터졌다. (연합뉴스)