The match was as expected from two giants of European & World Football with maximum effort from both, high tension & emotions right up until the end of the 90 ( + 5 ) minutes.
Real Madrid started with the above 11, & Coach Mourinho opting for young defender Varane who was again brilliant & Higuain in for Benzema. The latter was to contribute conclusively with his pass that found his teams second & winning goal.
The Manchester United starting 11 above had a notable absence in Wayne Rooney as Coach Ferguson looked to put in place his strategy of pressure Football on the Spaniards. His tactic of choking off Real Madrid in the midfield & neutralizing Cristiano Ronaldo along with the Real Madrid counter-attacking style was paying off & have Real Madrid rattled.
Manchester United was exploiting the weaknesses of the Real Madrid aerial work & uneasiness with corners & fixed plays. The English were dominating when in the 48th min a crossed ball shot at goal found Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos who put in an own goal. To make things worst Real Madrid lost key player Di Maria to injury at the end of the first half that disorganized further Real Madrid, something to which Mourinho reacted with Kaka coming on to replace Di Maria.
Real Madrid bravely reacted, but the turning point of the match came when the referee interpreted a lifted leg by Manchester United winger Nani, that connected with the body of Real Madrid defender Arbeloa , as dangerous play & was sent off with a red card. This was indeed a harsh interpretation & decision as it looked more as a mis-timed & not intentional attempt to challenge for a loose ball that instead found the body of the player. With 10 men down Manchester United then also made another fatal mistake, fall into their own half which allowed Real Madrid total control of the ball & the match.
Real Madrid Coach Mourinho reacted immediately & took off defender Arbeloa & put on midfieder Modric. This was important as the Spaniards began attacking in waves & it was a matter of time that a equalizer would come. It did so in spectacular fashion when Modric smashed & curved a shot that beat De Gea in the 66 th min. A cracker!
With Real Madrid "smelling blood" another attack saw a Ozil back pass find Higuain who droved a shot across the Manchester United goal to find Cristiano Ronaldo running in beating Rafael to score the second & crucial winner in the 69th min.
Real Madrid reacted again taking off Ozil & bring on Pepe as they sensed that the English would put all their fire-power on show & go down "dying".
They were not wrong in their thought, with Ferguson putting on Ashley Young & later Valencia to attempt to find the equalizer. Here is were Real Madrid goalkeeper Diego Lopez appeared to save the night for his team with two outstanding match winning saves that will make Iker Casillas think if he will be able to win back his regular place. The goalie was brilliant tonight & Real Madrid will have to thank him for staying alive.
The Spaniards held out with tooth & nails & celebrated their win, while Manchester said good-bye obviously bitter & disappointed by the referee decision that will be debated all night & for weeks.
Very unlucky indeed for Man Utd but there can only be one winner & that was Real Madrid tonight in another memorable game of Football.
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