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11.02.2014 » Atletico Madrid 0-2 Real Madrid. Ronaldo turned off the lights!
The tie was already virtually decided after last week's 3-0 result, but Real Madrid didn't exactly hit the brakes in their visit to the Vicente Calderón and have beaten Atletico Madrid again, this time by 0-2. With a favorable 5-0 on aggregate, the Merengues have therefore confirmed their presence in the Copa del Rey's final, where they will now await for either Barcelona and Real Sociedad, who will lock horns for the other Copa del Rey's semi-finals this Wednesday night. In the Calderón, it was Cristiano Ronaldo who decided the derby and it all happened inside the first 20 minutes of the game. Two clumsy penalty-kicks conceded by Atletico Madrid allowed the Portuguese to end his short 3-game goal drought and send Real Madrid into the Cup's final, which is scheduled for next April 19 on a stadium yet to be chosen.
Cristiano Ronaldo game photos in Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid
Atletico Madrid 0-2 Real Madrid goals and highlights video:
All Cristiano Ronaldo actions vs Atletico Madrid:
Looking at the line-ups picked for tonight's derby, it seemed clear that the first person dropping the towel to the ground was Diego Simeone. The Argentina manager preferred to give rest to a few key players like Arda Turan and Gabi, and he has done that on top of already knowing that he was going to be deprived of both David Villa (injured) and Diego Costa (suspended). It was almost a second-tier Atletico that stepped on to the pitch, which Real Madrid's undoubted stronger starting eleven was keen to capitalize on their mistakes, especially during the early minutes of the clash.
The opener came in around the 7th minute of the first half, after Atletico's winter signing Diego lost the ball possession in a very dangerous area and transition moment. Isco picked it up, sent it over to Ronaldo on the left and the Portuguese star raced forward as he prepared to take on the last Atletico defender in front of him. That was precisely when the youngster Manquillo's couldn't failed to control his impetus and stop his run in time of making Ronaldo lose his balance after a slight touch on his back. The two players went down to the ground and the referee pointed to the spot, allowing CR7 to strike a bullet into the back of the net and send Real Madrid into the lead.
If there were any doubts about who was going through to the final, they ceased to exist after Real Madrid's first goal, as Atletico now needed to score 5 in order to get ahead in this tie. However, the visitors weren't satisfied just yet and roughly 9 minutes after the opener was scored, they managed to extend the lead through the exact same way...
The 15th minute had just ticked on the clock and it was now time for Real Madrid's right wing to come into service. Isco and Gareth Bale exchanged a few passes close to the sideline, with the former Malaga midfielder backheeling the ball to the Welshman so he could breach inside Atletico Madrid's box. As Gareth Bale made his first touch on the ball he immediately got tackled by Insua, leaving no other choice to the referee but to point to the 12-yards mark once again. The penalty-kick was once more taken by Cristiano Ronaldo and it was pretty much like a "dejà-vu" moment in the Vicente Calderón, since the 29-year old forward hammered it the exact same way as he had done on his previous goal. 0-2 for Real Madrid as everything was turning out to become too easy for the Merengues...
With the tie already decided, the highlights of this night would come from a couple other incidents that took place close to the half-time break. The first went down around the 44th minute... Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Manquillo jumped to challenge a ball in the air, with the Real Madrid forward rising a lot higher than his opponent that ended up leading to a terrible and accidental fall from the Spanish defender. The 19-year old fell on his neck, with the entire weight of his body forcing it to twist it in a very dangerous way. Fortunately, Manquillo didn't pick any serious injury, but the referee probably still shocked by his big fall, decided to show a yellow card to Ronaldo even though the Portuguese forward did nothing wrong but to jump fairly for a 50-50 ball.
The second incident came a couple minutes later, instants after the referee had whistled for half-time. As Cristiano Ronaldo was walking to the locker rooms next to Sergio Ramos, someone in the crowds threw a lighter towards Ronaldo and hit him in the head. The Real Madrid forward had to lie down for a bit below the bench's coverage and fortunately he also didn't get any significant injury from it. The Portuguese star would return to the pitch minutes later and played the second half of the game until he got replaced by Jesé, in the 74th minute.
Real Madrid will know their opponent for the Copa del Rey's final tomorrow, but the more likely scenario at this stage is that we'll have an "El Clasico" on the final set for April 19. Barcelona carries a 2-0 advantage into tomorrow's semi-finals against Real Sociedad and probably more important than that, Lionel Messi seems to have started picking up his old form. We'll also have a great game being played in England this Wednesday night, with an Arsenal vs Manchester United promising to turn up another gear in the excitement level of the English Premier League.
Real Madrid line-up vs Atletico Madrid:
Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas
Defenders: Arbeloa, Sergio Ramos, Varane, Carvajal
Midfielders: Xabi Alonso, Illarramendi, Modric
Attackers: Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo, Isco.
| Match stats provided by www.ronaldo7.net
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|---|---|---|
Atletico Madrid
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vs
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Real Madrid
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0 |
Goals |
2 |
12 |
Shots |
7 |
2 |
Shots on goal |
4 |
4 |
Corner kicks |
2 |
17 |
Fouls commited |
14 |
3 |
Yellow cards |
1 |
0 |
Red cards |
0 |
37% |
Ball possession |
63% |
Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Real Madrid will be against Schalke 04, for the UEFA Champions League last-16 round first leg, on February 26 of 2014. In the meanwhile, you can watch Getafe vs Real Madrid, Real Sociedad vs Barcelona, Arsenal vs Manchester United and Fulham vs Liverpool, all matches provided from our football streaming section.
Real Madrid next game:
Getafe vs Real Madrid kick-off time (16-02-2014):
Jakarta (Indonesia) | GMT+7: 23:00
Spain (Madrid) | GMT+1: 17:00
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | GMT+0: 16:00
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | GMT-2: 14:00
New York (United States) | GMT-5: 11:00
Los Angeles (United States) | GMT-8: 08:00
Beijing (China) | GMT+8: 00:00
Sources: ronaldo7.net / realmadrid.com / dailymail.co.uk / sbnation.com
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