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Wednesday, 23 November 2011

Real Madrid 6-3 Dinamo Zagreb




A brace each from Karim Benzema and Jose Callejon, plus further goals from Mesut Ozil and Gonzalo Higuain helped Real Madrid to an emphatic 6-2 win over Dinamo Zagreb in Champions League Group D at the Estadio Bernebeu, clinching top spot in the process.

The hosts made the best start possible and were on the scoresheet in the first minute of the match. Ozil found space on the byline and cut a pass into the box for Benzema to take a touch and coolly slot the ball into the bottom right corner to score the fastest goal in history for Madrid in the Champions League.

Jose Mourinho's side doubled its lead within five minutes. A fantastic crossfield pass from Ozil found the head of Jose Callejon, who leapt well to flicked the ball on to Benzema. The Frenchman then quickly turned and returned the pass to his teammate who emphatically drove the ball into the left corner.

Things got from bad to worse for Zagreb just three minutes later. Lassana Diarra played a ball into space for Higuain down the right-hand side of the box. The Argentine then drove forward before cleverly turning inside and delightfully flicking the ball over the oncoming goalkeeper Ivan Kelava with his weaker foot.

Germany international Ozil then made it 4-0 to the home side in the 20th minute. Higuain showed impressive strength to fend off challenges coming in from the right wing before lashing a shot at goal with his left foot. Kelava managed to make the save but Ozil retrieved the rebound and passed the ball into the open goal.

Real Madrid started the second half the exact same way it started the first and damaged the spirit of Zagreb with an early goal, and it could not have been in more simple fashion. Raphael Varane clipped the ball over the Zagreb defense from his own half and Callejon took the ball down before driving forward and passing the ball into the right corner.

The locals made it 6-0 in the 66th minute courtesy of an excellent spot of link-up play on the outside of the Zagreb box. Benzema played a pass into the feet of Higuain and the Argentine flicked the ball back into the path of his teammate who went through on goal and slotted the ball nicely into the corner.

However, Zagreb rallied in the last ten minutes and was able to grab two consolation goals. Fatos Beqiraj popped up in the 81st minute to score an excellent header at the near post after latching on to a well placed cross by Luis Ibanez. The Croatian side also scored in the dying minutes of the game after Milan Badelj took advantage of some miscommunication in the Madrid ranks to slide a cross to the back post for Ivan Tomacek to smuggle over the line.

Real Madrid retains top spot in Group D after notching up 15 points from five matches and will progress as winners of the group. Dinamo Zagreb finds itself bottom of the group with five losses out of five games.

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