By: Luis Imaña
A new Champions League matchday ended yesterday with several thrilling matches, such as Real Madrid's 2-0 victory over RB Leipzig.
Despite the final result, the Madrid team struggled to secure the win and consolidate their position as the leader of Group F with a perfect score.
The team led by Carlo Ancelotti had to come up with strategies without their top scorer Karim Benzema, whose absence diminished the offensive firepower for a large part of the match.
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The Spanish team showed little clarity in the final quarter of the field, while the 'Red Bulls' took advantage of the defense's passivity to launch some warning shots at the host's goal, but they didn't go beyond attempts thanks to Courtois' quality between the posts.
The coach made changes to Real Madrid's bench in the second half, allowing the current Champions League winner to gain ground in the opposing area; however, they were unable to score the expected goal.
Just when it seemed like Madrid would settle for a draw, Federico Valverde appeared in the 80th minute to score the opening goal with his left foot. The 'Uruguayan', aware of how tough it was to breach the opponent's defense, released all his frustration with a shout during the celebration.
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Real Madrid celebrated their return to the Santiago Bernabéu stadium to play in the Champions League with a victory. Photo: EFE
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With the score in their favor, the Madrid team regained their composure and that allowed Marcos Asensio (90') to seal the 2-0 victory with a shot into the top corner from outside the box.
Thus, Real Madrid remains undefeated this season (5 wins in La Liga and 2 wins in the European competition).
In addition, Ancelotti reached 100 victories in the Champions League, becoming the second coach in history to achieve this feat. The Italian is 3 wins away from surpassing Alex Ferguson's record (102).
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The other matches ended with the following results: Manchester City-Borussia Dortmund (2-1), Maccabi Haifa-PSG (1-3), Juventus-Benfica (1-2), Chelsea-Salzburg (1-1), Copenhagen-Sevilla (0-0), Milan-Dinamo Zagreb (3-1), Rangers-Napoli (0-3), and Shakhtar-Celtic (1-1).
The Word
Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid coach
“This is a moment of the season when I don't ask the boys to play fantastic football. I only ask them to play smart and in the simplest way to win the matches."