Five-goal Madrid ease through
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E-mail Xinhua, April 5, 2012
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Kaka and C.Ronaldo celebrate scoring in UEFA Champions League second leg between Real Madrid and APOEL on Wednesday night in Madrid. |
Real Madrid qualified for the semifinals of the Champions League on Wednesday night with a 5-2 win over Cypriot side APOEL Nicosia.
The win gave Madrid an overall 8-2 aggrregate triumph following their 3-0 win in Cyrpus last week and means they will now face Bayern Munich for a place in the final.
Bayern will be the first side from any of Europe's top four leagues (England, Spain, Italy and Germany) that Madrid have faced in Europe this season.
With the tie virtually resolved last week, Madrid coach Jose Mourinho resisted the temptation to rest key many players, although Xabi Alonso, Karim Bezema and Mesut Ozil all began the game on the bench.
The first leg had seen Madrid manage over 20 shots on the APOEL goal with their rivals not managing one single shot during the game and the return leg kicked off much as the first game had ended.
Madrid enjoyed over 70 percent of posession but failed to open the scoring against their rivals, who spent most of the time camped deep in their own half, until the 26th minute when Ronaldo followed in on the far post to finish a Marcelo cross.
Kaka added the second ten minutes later with a manificent curling shot into the top corner of the net and before the break he was unlucky to see another shot rebound off the post.
The second half saw more Madird sit back slightly and APOEL scored a consolation goal from Gustavo Manduca after 66 minutes. That sparked a reaction from Madrid and Ronaldo scored his second of the night with a curling free kick and Javier Callejon added a fourth, shortly after coming on as substutute.
Meanwhile APOEL scored a second from the penalty spot due to Esteban Solari, whose brother Santiago had played for Real the last time they lifted the Champions League.
Angel de Maria continued his recovery from a hamstring problem and rounded off the scoring with a lovely chip to send the Madrid fans home happy.
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