Karim Benzema delivered his best performance of the season with a brace to pace Real Madrid to a commanding 2-0 victory over Borussia Monchengladbach in Group B action on Wednesday night at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano.
The French striker scored on a pair of headers in the first half and could have easily had another two of three scores in what was a decisive and very convincing win for Los Blancos, who also claimed first place in the group with the result.
Centre-back and captain Sergio Ramos returned from injury to help man the backline, which also included Lucas Vazquez at right-back. Meanwhile, Zinedine Zidane opted for the veteran midfield trio of Casemiro, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, while the young Brazilian duo of Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo Goes joined Benzema in attack.
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Real Madrid had an ideal start, as a Gladbach giveaway at midfield allowed for a quick break and Lucas Vazquez’s cross into Benzema was headed in perfectly by the Frenchman to hand Real Madrid a 1-0 lead.
Gladbach were going nowhere against Real Madrid’s high line of pressure until 25 minutes in when a counter-attack saw Alassane Plea receive a pass with just Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to beat, but the shot rolled wide.
Outside of that chance though, it was mostly one-way traffic and Los Blancos doubled their lead 2-0 when a Rodrygo cross from the right flank was headed in by Benzema.
Real Madrid were flying and Modric was unlucky not to have made it three off a cross from Lucas Vazquez, as the Croatia international’s shot glanced off the fingertips of Gladbach goalkeeper Yann Sommer and off the post.
Real Madrid remained in control to start the second stanza, so Gladbach had no other option but to commit more numbers forward in hopes of trying to pull a goal back. But Real Madrid were the team closest to scoring the next goal and Ramos looked set to do it off a cross from Kroos, yet Sommer was alert and made a superb save. The rebound fell right to Benzema, however, but his shot thundered off the crossbar and was eventually cleared.
Zidane finally made his first changes with a quarter-hour to go, with Vinicius and Rodrygo making way for Marco Asensio and Sergio Arribas. The woodwork would once again deny Real in the half, this time Lucas Vazquez being left empty-handed after a hard hit that had Sommer beaten.
Unlike their first meeting in Germany where Real rallied from a late 2-0 deficit to salvage a 2-2 draw, there would be no late drama here, as the home side easily saw out the waning minutes to collect the victory and earn a place in next February’s knockout round.
Match Sheet:
2.- Real Madrid: Courtois; Lucas Vazquez, Varane, Sergio Ramos, Mendy; Modric, Casemiro, Kroos; Rodrygo (Arribas, min. 74), Benzema, Vinicius (Asenmsio, min. 74).
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0.- Borussia Monchengladbach: Sommer; Lainer, Ginter, Elvedi, Wendt (Lazaro, min. 46); Kramer (Benes, min. 85), Neuhaus; Embolo (Zakaria, min. 46), Stindl (Wolf, min. 85), Thuram (Herrmann, min. 85), Plea.
Goals: 1-0, min. 9: Benzema; 2-0, min. 31: Benzema.
Referee: Bjorn Kuipers (Netherlands).
Yellow cards: Zakaria (Min. 88) for Gladbach.
Red cards: None.
Stadium: Alfredo Di Stefano.
Attendance: 0.
