Karim Benzema scored his first Real Madrid hat-trick as suspended Jose Mourinho's men ran out 4-0 winners over Auxerre.
Madrid finish Group G unbeaten with easy victory over French outfit
Karim Benzema scored his first Real Madrid hat-trick as suspended boss Jose Mourinho saw his men run out 4-0 winners over Auxerre on Wednesday.
The result means unbeaten Group G winners Madrid finish with a goal difference of plus 13 and surpassed the 300-goal mark in the UEFA Champions League.
Cristiano Ronaldo also got on the score-sheet and was instrumental in the win, but his second-half withdrawal allowed Frenchman Benzema to shine.
It took the hosts just 12 minutes to break the deadlock and it was Ronaldo who provided it, delivering an inviting cross for Benzema to stoop and nod in from close range.
Ten minutes later, Ronaldo should have opened his scoring account for the night, but could only power a header wide after great wing play from Pedro Leon, making a rare start for the hosts.
Auxerre threatened an equaliser on 27 minutes as Jean-Pascal Mignot spun away from Raul Albiol, who received a yellow card in conceding the free-kick which led to the chance, and nodded on target only for Jerzy Dudek to make the save.
Besides brief counter-attacks, the French side spent the majority of the opening period defending in large numbers inside their own half and struggled to retain possession when given the chance to do so.
Domination
Yet for all Real's domination, they could have gone into the break on level terms but for some great keeping by Dudek, a winner of the competition with Liverpool in 2005.
Dennis Oliech skipped past Marcelo with ease before streaming forward and fizzing a low, powerful strike across the face of goal to which Dudek got his fingertips, forcing a corner.
It proved to be the Pole's last significant contribution, however, as a head clash against Roy Contout forced Dudek, 37, into an exit on the stroke of half-time with deputy goalkeeper Antonio Adan taking his place.
Just four minutes after the restart and Madrid found themselves in the comfort zone.
Marcelo picked up possession in an advanced position wide left and found Ronaldo with a pinpoint cross-field pass. The Portuguese forward took it in his stride with a sublime first touch and duly thumped past Olivier Sorin in Auxerre's goal.
The hosts soon took their foot off the gas in true Mourinho fashion - comfortable in possession with reserved penetration - and it took until the 66th minute for another meaningful Madrid attack to materialise, though Marcelo could only shoot wide.
But by 72 minutes, a defence-splitting pass from Lassana Diarra was controlled beautifully by Benzema, who stroked home with his left foot across the face of goal to add gloss to Real's victory.
Debutant keeper Adan endured his first big test since his arrival from the bench and the big youngster stood tall to deny Oliech, who had burst through from wide right, on 78 minutes.
A rapid counter-attack on 85 minutes almost saw Benzema complete his hat-trick, but he could only find the side netting having twisted and turned Auxerre's defence.
Moments later, the France international got his reward as he pounced on a slack clearance from Sorin before calmly adjusting his stance and clipping a delightful chip into the empty net from an acute angle.
| Real Madrid |
Team Statistics |
Auxerre |
| 4 |
Goals |
0 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 5 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 6 |
Shots off Target |
9 |
| 4 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 3 |
Corners |
4 |
| 10 |
Fouls |
13 |
| 0 |
Offsides |
5 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 87.5 |
Passing Success |
80.7 |
| 17 |
Tackles |
21 |
| 76.5 |
Tackles Success |
81 |
| 62.6 |
Possession |
37.4 |
| 57.8 |
Territorial Advantage |
42.2 |
|
