Real Madrid let two goal lead slip away, as they finish second in the group

It was a frustrating night for Los Blancos at the Santiago Bernabeu as Dortmund sealed the first place in the dying moments of the Match.

Karim Benzema scored a goal in either halves to give Real Madrid a two goal lead. He also reached 50 goal mark in the club continental competition and could have scored a hat-trick but his header was cleared off the line by Marco Reus.

Real Madrid spurned a few chances to put the game beyond reach of the German outfits. Cristiano Ronaldo was denied by the post but everyone in the stadium felt he should have done better.

Dortmund punished Real Madrid for there missed chances as they hit back, courtesy of the goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Marco Reus. 

Reus scored in the 88th minute to to complete a brilliant comeback and seal the top spot in the group.

Zidane echoed his frustration after the Match but remained positive as his side's unbeaten run reached to 34 match.

"When you see how the second half went you get a bit angry," Zidane told reporters after the match.

"We had the game in our hands but this is football. You need to carry on right to the end. 

"We had chances to score a third, but that's in the past now. We couldn't do any more. I'll analyse the game and we will see when things have calmed down a bit what we can take away.

"I have mixed emotions. Things happen. We missed a few chances to seal the game but we drew and came second in the group. 

"We gave our all to come first, but didn't do it. I'm very proud of the players, their hard work, the things they did.

"Now we need to rest. The second half saw us lose a bit of intensity but we had chances to score a third."

Zidane congratulated Dortmund on finishing first and felt they deserved it across the six matches.

He said: "They are a strong side who make life difficult and at the end of the day we needed to be a bit more on it, but it is in the past now. 

"The group is probably fair with us second and them first.

"There were a lot of chances to score the third goal. Instead, we got Dortmund back into the game. Dortmund deserved first place and they demonstrated how strong they are.

"We gave our all to come first. We didn't achieve it. We wanted to do it but couldn't. 

"We won't go over it again. We came second and we'll now see who we get in the draw."

Real Madrid could face table toppers like Juventus or Arsenal in the last 16, which will take place in February next year.

The draws will be out on 12 December as some mouth watering fixtures are surely on the cards.

©sportskafun.blogspot.com

12 hours to the biggest game in club football- 12 facts to know

With the biggest game just 12 hours away. Read 12 facts about the El Clásico which every enthusiast should know.

Some records are in the sight for both teams and it will be a treat for football fans all around the world to witness them being broken or created tonight.

Barcelona have lost just three of the last 13 Clásicos they have played at home in all competitions (W7 D3). 

Real Madrid have won five of their last nine games aganst Barça in all competitions (L4), including their last trip to Camp Nou (1-2). 

Zinedine Zidane could become the first Real Madrid manager to enjoy consecutive wins in Clásicos at Camp Nou since Miguel Muñoz in 1965 (four in all competitions). 

Should Barcelona win this game, it would be their 50th victory over Real Madrid at home in La Liga.

No Barcelona manager has ever lost two Clásicos in a row at home. 

Barcelona and Real Madrid have not drawn a game without scoring and conceding in La Liga since November 2002, the worst La Liga season for the Culés in the 21ST century (6th).

Messi has gone five games without scoring against Real Madrid in all competitions, his worst such run in El Clásico. 

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored ten of Real Madrid’s last 16 goals at Camp Nou in all competitions.

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored all five Real Madrid goals in his last two league games (one hat-trick and one brace).

Benzema has assisted more goals than any other current Real Madrid player in all competition Clásicos (5), with three of them scored by Cristiano Ronaldo. 

Zidane have gone 25 games in a row without a defeat in La Liga (W22 D3), with his team scoring in all of them (an average of three goals per game).

27 points after the opening 13 league games is the worst start for Barcelona since 2007/08 (also 27), when they finished the season in third place.

©sportskafun.blogspot.com

Goals Galore at Signal Iduna Park, Real Madrid wins in Lisbon and other Champions league match results

Group F

Borussia Dortmund won the match 8-4 with the help of a hat trick from local hero Marco Reus.

Borussia Dortmund were playing against Legia Warsaw in match day 5 of Champions league group stages.

A total of 12 goals were scored on the night and the previous record of most goals in a single match got broken.

Previous record of most goals scored in a single match in UCL was when AS Monaco demolished Deportivo La Coruna 8-3 in 2003.

7 goals were scored in the first 32 minutes of the game.

Legia Warsaw took the lead in 10th minute after a fine finish from Aleksander Prijovic. Dortmund were taken by surprise.

Shinji Kagawa replied for Dortmund after equalizing in the 17th minute from a close range.

Kagawa was the man again as Dortmund took lead with 2nd goal in as many minutes.

Nuri Sahin then scored the third in an unlikely manner, Marco Reus sent the ball in from a free kick which Legia goalkeeper punches to clear but it took rebound off Nuri Sahin's body and back into net. 3-1 with just 20 minutes on the clock.

Now it was Legia's turn, Aleksander Prijovic made it 3-2 in 24th minute. He completed the low finish in the bottom-left corner after some not so convincing defending.

Ousama Dembele scored in the 29 minute after receiving a pass from Marco Reus. Legia's goalkeeper put his arm out but he couldn't keep out the shot.

In the 32nd minute, Marco Reus got his first of the match and Dortmund's 5th after piercing Legia's defense easily. The cut back from Kagawa from the left was finished by Reus. Kagawa got his 1st assist to couple with his two goals.

Dortmund came to scoring again but were denied and halfway mark score was 5-2.

7 minutes into the second half, Dembele was the problem again for Legia as he bagged his third assist after providing a curling delivery from the left which Marco Reus glanced into the goal. He got his 2nd of the night and score 6-2.

Legia pulled one back in the 57th minute, when Kucharczyk was found from the outside of the boot from Radovic. The goalscorer waited for Weidenfeller to rush onto him before completing a brilliant low finish to make it 6-3.

In the 81st minute Dortmund made it 7-3, when Passlack finished home the rebound after Schurrle forced a save from Cierzniak following a great run.

Two minutes later, Legia struck their 4th of the match on a counter attack. Nikolic's low finish was in the back of the net touching the post. Score 7-4

In the stoppage time, Marco Reus completed his hat trick on return, after galloping down the right and finishing a low strike from an acute angle through Cierzniak's legs.

The match ended Dortmund 8-4 Legia Warsaw.

Real beat 10- men Sporting CP to make it through to the last 16

It was homecoming for Cristiano Ronaldo as it was the club where he started his footballing career.

Cristiano scored against his former club on Match day 1.

Real Madrid started slowly with Sporting in ascendency for the first 10 minutes.
The hosts made a confident start willing to cause a major upset.

But Real got their footing in after few minutes claiming majority of possession.

And it was Real Madrid who drew first blood in the 29th minute, when Varane made a poacher's finish after Ronaldo mishit from a Luka Modric free kick from the right. It was a scrappy goal for the champions.

Sporting had to do all kinds of work after going behind. They had a few chances but couldn't finish it.
Halftime score was Sporting 0-1 Real Madrid.

In 2nd half, Sporting bean their pursuit of equalizer. Real Madrid, though were firm in defense, Sporting had some half chances but they were not enough.

Real Madrid suffered a blow when Gareth Bale had to be subbed off following an ankle injury. With this injury coming few days before El Clasico it will be a huge blow for league leaders, if he misses it.

The tempo slowed down a bit as the match reached 1 hour mark. 

In the 64th minute, Joao Pereira and Kovacic got involved in a scuffle at the right corner flag right under the nose of linesman, it seemed the Sporting right back shoved at the midfielder and he went down, but a bit theatrically as the replay suggested but the referee showed a straight red to the Sporting man and they were down to 10 with already a goal behind.

Real Madrid took full advantage of an extra man as they dominated possession.

But Sporting didn't give up their pursuit though and they were awarded a penalty for their perseverance, when Fabio Coentrao handed the ba just inside the box. It was really poor from the Madrid left back who came on as a substitute for Marcelo.

Captain Adrien Silva finished from the spot sending Keylor Navas the wrong way. And suddenly it was game on in Lisbon.
Sporting 1-1 Real Madrid in the 80th minute.

Sporting got confident of turning it around as they put pressure back on Real Madrid.

Sporting had to win this game to stay in hunt for the last 16, while Real Madrid just needed a draw to see them trough.

But in 87th minute, Karim Benzema headed home Sergio Ramos' cross to put the game to bed and ruining the dreams of Sporting CP to complete a turnaround.

5 minute of stoppage time was given but Madrid comfortably passed it through.
Benzema scored the winner as Real Madrid continued their title defence as they reach the knockout stages.

While Sporting now had to fight for a Europa League place.

Other matches : -

Group E

Tottenham Hotspur crash out of the Champions league after losing 2-1 to AS Monaco away.

CSKA Moscow equalized from the penalty spot in 76th minute after Bayer Leverkusen took the lead in the first half through Kevin Volland.

Group G

Leicester City beat Club Brugge 2-1 to advance to knockout stages as table toppers. Their dream run in their maiden champions league continues.

FC Porto and FC Kobenhaven shared the spoils as a 0-0 draw keeps both the teams in hunt for a knockout stage place behind Leicester.

Group H

In a big encounter in the Group Sevilla faced Juventus at home. The home side started strongly and took the lead in 9th minute through Nicolas Pareja but two yellow cards for Franco Vazquez in 10 minutes changed the game as goals from Claudio Marchisio, Leonardo Bonucci and Mario Mandzukic led Juventus to a 3-1 victory and through to the knockout stages.

In other group H match, Lyon beat Dinamo Zagreb by one goal to nil, away. Alexandre Lacazatte scored the only goal of the match but Lyon had to settle only for a place in Europa league as Juventus and Sevilla are through to the knockout stages.

That's all for the Champions league match day 5 results.

©sportskafun.blogspot.com