Real Madrid finally shook off their jitters and landed themselves in the Round of 16 of the Champions League, after comfortably beating Sheriff Tiraspol. The La Liga team managed to avenge their earlier defeat at the hands of the Moldovan side, by scoring three and maintaining a clean sheet- with a goal each from David Alaba, Toni Kroos, and Karim Benzema.
In the reverse fixture, the Moldovan side had landed a shock 2-1 defeat to the Spanish giants. Recently transferred David Alaba managed to score his first CL goal in six years, putting Madrid in the lead, after which their midfield stalwart Toni Kroos scored another at the end of the first half.
Real Madrid Storm Into The Round of 16
French striker Karim Benzema scored the third goal in the 55th minute, creating a gulf between the sides, and settling their position at the top of the table. Carlo Ancelotti, the manager of Real Madrid, stated that his team played a good, controlled game from the very beginning.
Although Sheriff did manage to provide good competition, the experienced side triumphed in the end. He further spoke about how his confidence in the team at the start of the season was finally being repaid. With growing players like Vinicius Jr. and Ferlam Mendy, this team has been playing good football over the last few months.
Real Madrid’s Toni Kroos was declared the Player of the Match for his sublime goal and impactful performance and was duly praised by his manager after the game. Ancelotti stated that if Kroos was in form, his coach would definitely not have to worry about things. On the ball, he was on par with the best in the world- something he had been displaying ever since his move to Real Madrid.
While Georgios Athanasiadis, the goalkeeper of Sheriff, managed to keep a lot of the shots out, their loss against Real Madrid saw the team dropping out of the Champions League and into the Europa League.
