UEFA Champions League – Match Review: Ajax versus Real Madrid, Full Time Report
One of the biggest club in the world Real Madrid; who are about to play in the El Classico this weekend kicked off the match in a lustrous manner as Cristiano Ronaldo declared he was in no mood for playing around; being in for the glory of the battle. He
also got Los Blancos their during the third of the game which happened after an encounter with Ajax’s right Van Der Weil after tripping the Portuguese man on the left flank of Real’s attack..
In the 12th minute, Ronaldo was yet again involved in the build up play for Real Madrid as this time the winger fired in a low and a hard cross inside the Ajax penalty area but unfortunately for the Spanish giants
there was no one inside the box to capitalize on the ball which caused chaos amongst the Ajax defenders.
It was the Ronaldo show in the first half of the encounter at the Amsterdam arena; the Portuguese forward was involved in everything good for Real Madrid who looked like scoring every time they pushed forward in attack. In the 19th minute
of the match, Karim Benzema came to the party at hand as he unleashed a powerful strike at Ajax’s goal from a tight angle. Marten Stekenlenburg was alert in Ajax’s goal as he palmed the ball away to keep the score line at 0-0.
Real Madrid totally dominated the play in the first half of the match. They were the first ones to every loose ball in midfield as Xabi Alonso controlled all the offensive traffic for the 9 time European champions in the centre of the
park. Up front, Ronaldo and Benzema were at their best as they terrorized the likes of Van Der Weil and Alderweireld.
In the 32nd minute of the match, Sergio Ramos, the Real Madrid right back went into the referee’s book for a late tackle from behind on Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan striker who led the line for Ajax in the first half
of the match made the most of the tackle as the referee showed Ramos the first yellow card of the match.
In the 34th minute, Real Madrid surged forward on a counter attack but Karim Benzema’s shot at the end of the move was saved by Marten Stekenlenburg as the Dutch goalkeeper did very well to keep hold of the powerful
shot that was directed straight at him.
Right before the half time whistle, Real Madrid doubled their lead as Arbeloa tired his luck on goal in the 44th minute of the encounter after a rebound from Ronaldo’s free kick fell to the former Liverpool man.
The Spanish defender made no mistake as his drive from 30 yards out deceived the Ajax goalkeeper and ended up in the back of the net. The half time whistle thus came with the score line at 0-2 in favour of the visiting side, Real Madrid.
Ajax made their first substitution of the night during the half time break as El Hamdaoui was replaced in the Dutch club side’s attack by de Zeeuw. The second half kicked off with Ronaldo running circles around the Ajax defence yet again.
The Portuguese forward embarked on one of his trademark runs from the midfield area before unleashing a strong shot towards the Ajax goal, thankfully for the Dutch side, Stekenlenburg was at hand to push the ball onto the bar and out for a corner kick as he
showed that he was equal to the task of limiting Real Madrid’s lead to two goals only.
In the 54th minute, Benzema tried his luck on goal after making some space for himself inside the Ajax penalty area but the Frenchman’s strike sailed over the cross bar and Real’s lead remained at two goals. In
the 60th minute of the match, Cristiano Ronaldo and de Zeeuw were both booked by the referee as both the players got involved in an off-the-ball fight; however it was nothing serious as the referee booked the Portuguese and the Dutchman
and resumed the match.
In the 65th minute, Real Madrid made their first change of the match as Angel Di Maria came on in place of Pedro Leon for Jose Mourinho’s side. In the 70th minute of the match, Ronaldo got
in on the goal action as he added to Madrid’s lead by gathering a pass from Angel Di Maria, the former World Player of the Year finished the chance by blasting the ball past Stekenlenburg. In the 80thminute of the match, Real Madrid were awarded
a penalty kick by the referee as Ozil was brought down inside the Ajax penalty area.
Ronaldo stepped up to take the kick and he made no mistake in increasing his team’s lead to four goals as he struck the penalty with authority and got himself his own second goal of the encounter.
In the 86th minute of the match, Xabi Alonso picked up his second yellow card of the night and thus he was sent off by the referee. However, that was not the end of the drama as Madrid had another player sent off
in the 91st minute of the match. Sergio Ramos gathered his second yellow card of the match for a rash tackle. Regardless, the nine man Real Madrid side eventually ended up as winners by four goals to nil. The win ensured their place
in the last 16 teams of the tournament as well.
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