Real Madrid 1-1 Man United: Champions League Match

 

 

 

Old Trafford side have handy away goal to bring back from trip to the Bernabeu.

Danny Welbeck and Cristiano Ronaldo scored a first-half goal apiece as Real Madrid and Manchester United played out an entertaining score-draw in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
Former United star Ronaldo levelled on 30 minutes with his seventh Champions League goal of the season, making him the top-scorer in the competition, after Welbeck had headed home a corner 10 minutes earlier.
Alex Ferguson had promised goals before the match and they came early enough, but then his team put on a battling performance with David De Gea excellent in goal to take a draw into the second leg at Old Trafford on March 5.
“They did their job well, they did not let us create space or score goals, but we can definitely score at Old Trafford, many teams have done already this season and they will know that,” said Mourinho.
“Because of the football culture in England I don’t think they can play as defensively there. We had chances to score more tonight, but they had a lot of men in front of the ball especially in the second-half.
“It’s easy to understand, if they score first we have to score, if we score we’re in the lead,” he commented on the second leg.
Ferguson was happy with his side’s performance and the result, picking out De Gea, Welbeck and Phil Jones for special praise.
“We would have taken 1-1 before the game. In the first-half I was disappointed at how deep we played, but the away goal is important, it is not finished but it gives us a good chance to go through.
“We’ll play differently at home, they counter-attack very well but we have goals in our team, it’s still 50-50 but the team that scores first will have a good chance.” he said.
Sami Khedira had the first effort for the Madrid in the second minute when he pulled his shot well wide.
Next it was Angel Di Maria who tried his luck from outside the area before De Gea tipped a goal bound shot from Fabio Coentrao onto the post.
United weathered the early storm and when Welbeck and Shinji Kagawa combined well to win a corner on 20 minutes it was Welbeck who eluded the marking of Ramos to head home the opening goal and his first in the competition this season.