Real Madrid

Only bad luck and the strange things that sometimes happen in football prevented Real Madrid from winning tonight in Moscow. The Whites perfectly adapted to the stadium's synthetic grass and to the city's low temparature, dominating the match from the start, but unfortunatley leaving without a much deserved victory due to a defensive mistake in injury time. The tie will be decided at the Bernabeu.

Mourinho decided to use Callejon, Khedira, Arbeloa and Coentrao in his starting lineup, ready to play a more tactical game against CSKA. Real Madrid found it a little hard to adapt in the opening minutes and the Russians used this to their advantage. Bad luck struck the Whites when Benzema injured himself attempting a long strike  and had to be replaced by Higuain (13'), who had the first chance in the game with a shot that was cleared by Chepchugov. The ball fell at Khedira's feet, but the keepr saved the day again for the local side.

CSKA hardly reached Casillas' goal, but they were well positioned throughout the match. They also fouled whenever they had a chance, but Real scored their goal after Higuain stole the ball, crossed it and Ronaldo netted it with a crossed shot (27'). Only Doumbia troubled the Madrid defence occasionally with his speed after the strike, but no real danger came from CSKA.

The Madridistas tried to seal the match as soon as the second half began, and Callejon missed a couple of good chances (50', 51'). The locals started to look for a goal of their own and left room for Madrid to attack in. Musa shot on target in the 61st minute, but Casillas grabbed the ball easily as it lacked force. Real Madrid continued to dominate the encounter and looked for a chance to counterattack.

Mourinho made Kaka come on for Callejon on the 74-minute mark and a Ramos header was saved by the keeper one minute later. Ronaldo nearly scored again the minute after that, but Chepchugov cleared the shot by an inch. Honda led his side in reaching Casillas' goal more often and Mourinho decided to strengthen the defence by replacing Ozil with Albiol (84'). CSKA tried hard for a draw that would ease things for them in the return leg and eventually found it through Wernbloom in a messy effort in injury time.