 |
| Benzema and Özil celebrate one of the Real Madrid goals |
Real's 1,500th official match at the Bernabeu saw Casillas, Pepe, Cristiano Ronaldo and Khedira start on the bench, but despite the changes on the lineup the Madridistas' hunger was a strong as ever, tallying three goals in the opening eight minutes, a first in the Champions League. Benzema started the pour in the 2nd minute and was followed by Callejon four minutes later and by Higuain on the 8-minute mark with an individual effort.
Mourinho's men took a breather and lowered the pace of the game by extending their possession while Zagreb hardly left their box. A Kelava clerance landed at Ozil's feet and the German easily tallied a fourth for his team.
Granero, Altintop and Albiol came on for Ramos, Ozil and Xabi Alonso at the start of the second half, which unfolded very much like the first. Callejon defeated Kelava again after being assisted by Varane (48') and Real continued to hammer the visitors, who just waited for them to get tired of scoring goals; Kelava made a couple of solid saves to clear shots by Higuain and Callejon.
A spectacular heel pass from Higuain to Benzema on the edge of the box kickstarted and individual effort of the French striker, who controlled the ball, entered the box and netted the team's sixth and final strike of the evening. This way, Real Madrid reached their best goal tally in the Champions League against Genk of the 2002/03 campaign. Then, when everyone thought Madrid would continue to score more strikes, Zagreb tallied one of their own on the 80-minute mark from a Beqiraj header in the first chance they had on Adan's goal.
The Whites fought back and nearly scored again through Benzema, whose spectacular bicycle-kick shot hit the crossbar. Tomecak netted a second strike for Dinamo again in the final minute, but this final action did not tarnish Real's spectacular victory one bit. The Whites will go thorugh to the Last 16 as group leaders with one game yet to be played in the group stage.
Summary
Stadium: Santiago Bernabeu
Attendance: 73,000
Goals: 1-0, m.2: Benzema. 2-0, m. 6: Callejón. 3-0, m. 9: Higuaín. 4-0, m. 20: Özil. 5-0, m. 49: Callejón. 6-0, m. 66: Benzema. 6-1, m. 81: Beqiraj. 6-2, m. 90: Tomecak.