Report
28 August 2011
Fernando Porrero / Translation by Michael J. O'Donnell
Real Madrid gave an exhibition performance at La Romareda by defeating Zaragoza 6-0. The Whites had more than 20 chances to score and Cristiano Ronaldo capitalised on three of them.
Fabio Coentrao was positioned as central midfielder at the start of the match. Mourinho's men looked to score from the start, putting Roberto's reflexes to the test; the goalkeeper was by far the best local player. Ozil nearly scored the opener on the 9-minute mark, but the keeper saved it. Roberto again cleared a Real Madrid shot five minutes later. Aguirre's men stayed in their half of the pitch trying to get the ball out any way they could, but eventually Ozil pulled off a sensational effort and assisted Cristiano Ronaldo in the first goal (23').
Five minutes later, Ramos crossed the ball into the box and Ronaldo missed it attempting a bicycle-kick, but it landed at Marcelo's feet and he defeated Roberto with a phenomenal crossed shot. Real Madrid had 11 chances on goal in only 30 minutes, while the first threat for Casillas took 37 minutes to arrive. Cristiano could've scored a third on the 38-minute mark, but Roberto again saved the day albeit with difficulties.
Zaragoza focused on defending after half-time. A shot by Di Maria unbelievably missed the target (51') and the Whites kept having chance after chance on Roberto's goal. In the 53rd minute, Benzema took advantage of a huge mistake by Da Silva and faced Roberto in a one-on-one that was unfortunately won by the keeper. It was only a matter of time for the Madridistas to net another strike and Xabi Alonso scored it from a powerful 25-metre shot that hit Meira before entering the goal.
Ronaldo scored again seven minutes later following a pass on the goal-line from Di Maria. Mourinho then decided to make changes and made Callejon come on for the Argentinean and, later, with 15 minutes left to the end, replaced Benzema with Higuain. Kaka also came on for Ozil and Callejon nearly scored in the 78th minute, but his shot was cleared by the defence.
The fifth was scored by Kaka just five minutes after he came on. The Brazilian dribbled past a defender inside the box and defeated Roberto with a great shot that went through one of the top corners of the goal. But the icing on the cake was still to come, and it again starred the Brazilian, who after a great individual effort assisted Ronaldo to score the sixth and final goal of the evening just before the end of the clash.
Lineups
| Zaragoza | |
|---|---|
| Roberto | |
| Efraín Juárez | |
| Da Silva | |
| Fernando Meira | ![]() |
| Paredes | |
| Abraham | ![]() |
Edu Oriol 54' | |
| Ponzio | |
| Lafita | |
| Franco Zuculini | |
Pintér 54' | |
| Uche | |
| Barrera | |
Joel Valencia 84' | |
| Real Madrid | |
|---|---|
| Casillas | |
| Sergio Ramos | |
| Pepe | |
| Ricardo Carvalho | ![]() |
| Marcelo | Goal 28' |
| Xabi Alonso | Goal 65' |
| Fábio Coentrão | |
| Özil | |
Kaká 79' | Goal 83' |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Goal 24' 72' 88' |
| Di María | |
Callejón 73' | |
| Benzema | |
Higuaín 76' | |