Last night’s curtain opener for
the 2013 Champions League season has produced a remarkable number of goals and
I believe it broke the record of goals scored by teams with 30 goals in one
night of matches. And it was the Merengues and CRon who leads the pack as they
hammered Galatasaray right in their own turf at the Turk Telekom Arena despite
the hostility and dominance of the home side. And for the fact that history is
not on Real Madrid’s side as they have lost in two occasions when they have
played away against Galatasaray.
For the first 32 minutes,
Galatasaray and the home crowd put the Los Blancos on the back foot with
relentless pressure and testing Real’s defenders with so many opportunities on
goal. It was even aggravated with Iker Casillas leaving the match with an
injury on his rib that he sustained after colliding with Sergio Ramos. But if
you cannot convert those opportunities at the back of the net especially
against a team like Real Madrid then you’re going to suffer at the end. And
that exactly what happened after 33 minutes when Isco delivered the first of
Real Madrid’s 6 goals of the night.
From then on, Galatasaray seems
struggling to impose their game plan after falling behind and it became worse
when Drogba was pulled off after sustaining a shoulder injury. As if the
Turkish Champions fighting spirit were drained when Benzema double Real’s lead
and Ronaldo do the rest as he grabbed his 21st hat trick for Real
and set up one more easy strike for Benzema. So with the score of 6-1 at the
very first game of the competition, Real Madrid made a statement of intent to
the rest of the team. But will that be enough to finally capture the elusive
La Decima?
Image from corazonblanco.com
