Real Madrid finally lived up to some of their top-dollar billing by destroying Dynamo Kiev 5-1 in the 2nd match-day of the opening group stages of the Champions League. Up 3-0 at half-time with goals from Van Nistelrooy, Raul, and new-boy Reyes, Real were definitely poised to receive roses at half-time, as well as to make up for their lack-luster defeat to Lyon on the opening match-day.

Capello, never one to “dare to eat a peach,” has benched David Beckham, asking the ex-England captain to take the backseat for Reyes, who has made a scintillating start to his Real career by starting and scoring in his last two games for the club. With Reyes’ pace in on the flank, Real has looked more menacing of late.

The only real slip for Real occurred at the beginning of the 2nd half when a lack of focus in defense saw Kiev wrestle in a goal as the Real defense were caught napping, as Casillas’ first save rebounded for the follow up. The Kiev comeback was short-lived, however, as both Raul and Van Nistelrooy scored again to make sure that the smiles and family portraits were not in vain.

Kiev is a far cry from their earlier exploits in the Champions League when both Shevchenko and Rebrov were scoring goals and putting real pressure on the elite clubs. Those days are gone now as indicated by the 9 goals conceded and 2 scored in the first two games. Lyon has climbed out to an early lead as they defeated Steaua Bucuresti (3-0) in the same manner of their victory over Real.

Next up for Real is Steaua Bucuresti. Both teams are level on points chasing after Lyon. Real will be hoping that their new-found confidence and chemistry will help them take full claim of the 2nd spot in Group E.

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 30th, 2006 at 1:58 am and is filed under Soccer World, Rick Wall (Head Editor), Champions League. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.