Champions League Wrap: Mourinho's Madrid Stomp Over Galatasaray, Solid Malaga Holds Dortmund

Ronaldo's 9th minute goal turned out to be the eventual winner for Real Madrid.
Image retrieved from The Daily Mail UK

MATCH RESULTS:

Real Madrid 3 : 0 Galatasaray Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Madrid	Malaga 0 : 0 Dortmund La Rosaleda, Malaga
Ronaldo 9'                  --   Benzema 29'       Higuain 73'	--                 --

The history of football is full of miracles - Mourinho
Fatih Terim's Galatasaray were completely overpowered by Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid at the Bernabeu yesterday evening, with three different goal-scorers for Los Blancos and none for the Turkish giants.
Cristiano Ronaldo struck early in the first-half, smartly collecting a Mesut Ozil pass and chipping the ball past Gala keeper Fernando Muslera into the back of the net. Twenty minutes later, it was Frenchman Karim Benzema who got a goal, collecting a cross from Michael Essien. Galatasaray, for their part, couldn't quite string a decent chance as all but two of their efforts in the first half were off-target.
Any chance of Fatih Terim's side getting something out of the game disappeared in the second half, when Madrid's Gonzalo Higuain pounced on a loose ball created by a Xabi Alonso free-kick to score the coup-de-grace.

Gonzalo Higuain's glancing header puts the ball past Fernando Muslera into the back of the net Image retrieved from The Daily Mail UK

But Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho refused to be carried away by their dominating finish. "If we score a goal [in the second leg] they have to score five, but in football I have seen so many incredible things that nothing can surprise me.

"They will do everything to do something historic and I know Fatih Terim will try. The history of football is full of miracles."

Turkish boss Fatih Terim admitted that his side were clearly outgunned. "We faced a massive team who are aiming to win the UEFA Champions League. You just have to congratulate them. The quality between the sides wasn't equal

"Real Madrid were the dominant side and I accept that."

The tie is absolutely open - Pellegrini

Despite their chances, Jurgen Klopp's Borussia Dortmund are held goalless at La Rosaleda yesterday evening thanks to Malaga's goalkeeper Wilfredo Caballero.

Mario Gotze went one-on-one with the Argentine keeper three times, but the German forward just can't seem to get the ball past Caballero. Marco Reus and Robert Lewandowski also had their chances to put Dortmund ahead, but the sturdy Malaga back-line, coupled with Caballero's brilliant saving capabilities made sure Jurgen Klopp's men had no goal to celebrate in Spain.

Malaga's goalkeeper Wilfredo Caballero saves the ball from Dortmund's Lewandowski

Image retrieved from the UEFA official website

Manuel Pellegrini's men had chances of their own. Once they shook off the rapid-fire pace of the defending Bundesliga champions in the first half, Malaga got to their groove and started putting pressure on the visitors. Julio Baptista, Jeremy Toulalan and Isco were all on target for the home side, but none managed to score.

"It was an open game and the tie is absolutely open," Malaga boss Pellegrini said. "It was a very good game from both teams, who each tried to get into the opposition box. The crowd were happy."

Klopp was also satisfied with his side's performance, saying, "We gave a good performance against a good team. We had the better chances and a 0-0 draw is a result we can live with."