UEFA Champions League – Half-Time Report: Real Madrid 1-0 versus Auxerre
The excitement begins in the very first minutes:
Real Madrid pushed forward at the start of the match as in the 4th minute of the encounter, Jose Mourinho’s team forced the first corner of the match. The set piece was whipped in by Esteban Granero, whose wonderfully lofted ball found Diarra
inside the Auxerre penalty area. However, the midfielder was not accurate enough with his effort on goal as the ball sailed over the bar. It was a good chance for the home side to take the lead but Diarra’s wasteful finishing was laid bare for all to see as
Auxerre regained possession.
Real had another golden chance to open the scoring in the 10th minute of the match as Cristiano Ronaldo made one of his trademark runs into the penalty area and then whizzed a fantastic cross towards Karim Benzema. However,
the Frenchman was just inches away from the ball as the score line remained at 0-0.
In the 11th minute, Ronaldo once again replicated his earlier run and this time Real drew first blood. The Portuguese winger took control of the situation as he crossed accurately for Benzema. The former Lyon striker
made no mistake as he netted his first goal of the encounter to make it 1-0 in favor of Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeau stadium. In the 21st minute, Ronaldo combined effortlessly with Pedro Leon. The Spanish winger played a well timed cross
into the Auxerre penalty area for the Portuguese winger, whose header was just inches above the bar as Real failed to add to their lead.
In the 25th minute, Real Madrid central defender Raul Albiol was booked by the referee for bringing down Roy Contout at the edge of his team’s penalty area. It was a rash foul by the Spanish international, who was rightly
shown the first yellow card of the match. In the 26th minute, Auxerre threatened to equalize as Jean-Pascal Mignot connected with a powerful header but the ball was miraculously kept out of the Real Madrid goal by Jerzey Dudek, who did well to reach
the headed effort and thrash the French club’s chances of an equalizer.
In the 34th minute, Mignot was booked by the referee for a late challenge on Raul Albiol. After gaining the lead, Real became more confident in their play. However, there was a feeling during the match that most of the
Real starters were saving themselves up as the Madrid side had already qualified for the round of 16 after winning their last group stage match against Ajax. In the 39th minute of the match, Diarra followed Albiol into the book as the Real Madrid
midfielder stepped on Valter Birsa’s foot. It was a bad tackle by the African defensive enforcer which left Birsa in some pain on the field of play. Thus the first half of the encounter came to a conclusion with Real in the lead with Karim Benzema’s goal.
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