Nine-times champions Real Madrid eased into the Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday, beating APOEL Nicosia 5-2 in their quarter-final, second-leg clash and by 8-2 on aggregate.
A double from Cristiano Ronaldo, along with goals from Kaka, Angel Di Maria and Jose Maria Callejon, ensured the Spanish giants would meet Bayern Munich — who beat French side Olympique de Marseille 2-0 on Tuesday and 4-0 on aggregate — in the final four.
A goal by Gustavo Manduca and an Esteban Solari penalty gave the Cypriots some consolation late in the match.
Photo: AFP
The result was never really in doubt after Real won the first leg 3-0 in Cyprus, but the visitors nevertheless gave a fighting performance on a wet night in the Spanish capital.
APOEL bow out of this season’s competition after a memorable run, making them the first Cypriot team ever to reach the quarter-final stages.
Real Madrid will go into the Bayern clash with a near perfect record, winning nine out of ten games, scoring 32 goals and conceding only six.
Jose Mourinho was happy with his team’s performance and had some kind words for APOEL.
“We needed to put out a strong, balanced team to win the game and at the same time rest some players. We lost a bit of concentration in the second-half, but that is normal with the tie at 5-0, I can’t criticize my team, we are here on merit,” he said.
“For APOEL to get to the quarter-finals is the biggest achievement of this season’s Champions League, bigger than if ourselves, Bayern or Barca win the competion, so I am happy for them,” he added about the Cypriot side.
APOEL started the game playing very deep, looking to frustrate the home team, a tactic that denied Real in the first leg until the 77th minute.
however, Real Madrid were quicker off the mark this time and on two minutes Gonzalo Higuain took advantage of a poorly cleared cross by Ronaldo to head just wide.
A defensive error by Savvas Poursaitides three minutes later allowed Ronaldo a clear shot on goal from close range, but Urko Pardo, the Spaniard in the APOEL goal, blocked well.
The Cypriots began to settle after those early scares and started to enjoy some possession.
On 20 minutes they made their first attacking foray into enemy territory and Sergio Ramos had to make a timely tackle as Ailton bared down on Iker Casillas in the Real Madrid goal.
Ronaldo went close again on 25 minutes when he headed a Nuri Sahin free-kick over the bar, but a minute later he made no mistake for the opening goal when a Marcelo cross from the left-wing found him unmarked six meters out.
Kaka then tried his luck on 34 minutes with a curling right-footed drive from 20 meters that went just high.
However, two minutes later from exactly the same position to the left of the area, and five meters further out, he picked his spot perfectly, high to the right, to make it 2-0 to Madrid.
The Brazilian nearly doubled his tally on 40 minutes with a right-footed shot that hit the foot of the post and APOEL were relieved to hear the half-time whistle.
Jose Mourinho used the second period to rest various players and give Argentinian Di Maria more than 35 minutes to aid his recuperation from an injury that had kept him out for six weeks.
The Cypriots got their reward for enterprising play on 66 minutes when the Brazilian Gustavo Manduca finished off a tidy move to reduce Madrid’s lead.
Captain Constantinos Charalambides then went close for the Cypriots, who were enjoying their best spell of the game.
With 14 minutes remaining, Ronaldo curled a stunning right-footed free-kick from a wide left position for his eighth goal in this year’s competition and two minutes later Callejon made it 4-1 with an unstoppable shot.
Esteban Solari, brother of former Madrid star Santiago, quickly pulled one back for APOEL from the penalty spot, before Di Maria finished off the scoring with a delightful chip for Madrid.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS