Press:
Real Madrid managed to get the win they badly needed at home against a rather ordinary Swiss team FC Zurich. This is the third home match in a row Real Madrid wins 1-0. Before Zurich there was Alcorcon in the Spanish Cup and Racing Santander in the league. The other match in the group played out rather favorably for Real Madrid. AC Milan and Marseille drew in Milan which almost secures Real Madrid a place among the last 16.
The press and the crowd in the stadium was a bit lukewarm regarding the triumph. Yes Real Madrid won the match. Yes Zurich hardly had a shot on target and Yes Real Madrid is almost certain to progress in the tournament from the group stage BUT the team did not and does play very thrilling football.
On Sunday FC Barcelona will host this new Real Madrid team at the Camp Nou in the first “clasico” of the season. Barca will be the favorite and everyone is curious about the Real Madrid team will react and how they will withstand the pressure. Since the expectations are enormous this is another exam to pass. Probably more important than the result itself will be how the team comes out of the match. If they will be able to match FC Barcelona on the field playing “tu a tu” or if they will be beaten thoroughly. Any point coming from this match will one way or another be a triumph though. And since the defense has improved steadily and since it might suit this Real Madrid team that they do not have to dominate the match and be in ball control there certainly are opportunities for a positive result.

Besides the 1-0 victory the main news was the return of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Real Madrid - Zurich FC Champions League match review

The headlines in the Spanish press were more pre-occupied with the return of Cristiano Ronaldo than the match in general: The only good thing Cristiano! He had more shots on target in 21 minutes than Higuain and Raul during the entire match. The Real Madrid of Pellegrini bores even the cheeps against a team which would play in the second division in Spain. Historical ovation for the Portuguese coming on the pitch. Higuain scores once again. Real Madrid is first in the group but if the team loses with more than 3 goals against Marseille it might be eliminated from the Champions League.

The players get a note for their performance. 3 being the highest and 1 the lowest.
Casillas – 1
Ramos – 1
Albiol – 1
Pepe – 1
Arbeloa – 1
Van der Vaart – 1
Xabi Alonso – 2
Lass – 1
Marcelo – 2
Kaka – 1
Granero – No judgement
Raul – 1
Ronaldo – 1
Higuain – 3
Coach Pellegrini – 1

Man of the match Higuain for scoring the goal and Xabi Alonso for delivering the best performance during the match.

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