Wednesday, 10 April 2013

Galatasaray v Real Madrid: live - Telegraph.co.uk

45+2 min That little whirry thing has come up in the corner of the ITV screen, which means it's nearly time for an advertisement break. Still a good 20 seconds of football to played, though, with Gala on the attack in their half. Until, that is, that Eboue is pick-pocketed by Higuain. Play goes upfield and seconds later we hear the half-time whistle.

42 min Clive Tyldesley with his first mention of a "classy swagger". Swagger and Mourinho go together like Joey Barton and gobby.

40 min Eboue puts a really good throughball into Drogba's feet but the striker wasn't quite on the same wavelength as his compatriot and is left a bit flat-footed as he watches it roll past.

39 min Oh, it's 1-1 in the other game. Lewandowski has equalised for Dortmund.Get that liveblog open in another tab.

38 min Chance! Sneijder gets a shot away after the corner but the keeper is well placed to stop the, admittedly fierce, drive from just the corner of the box.

32 min New man Arbeloa brings down Sneijder, following some theatrics, to hand the hosts a decent free-kick opportunity, bang in front from 34 metres out. Drogba and Sneijder bicker over who will take.

31 min My one-third-of-the match-in verdict: Real Madrid are cruising to the semi-finals but Galatasaray may give their noisy and indignant fans something to smile about with a couple of consolation goals.

30 min Concern from the Real players as Essien goes down with what looks like a hamstring injury. Álvaro Arbeloa is the substitute being prepared to replace him. Yes, that change has now been made.

27 min Ozil tries buy a foul off Zan but the Galatasaray defender ain't sellin'! Referee Stephane Lannoy is unimpressed and does not oblige as the German midfielder went tumbling into the defender.

25 min Malaga lead in Germany against Dortmund. Joaquin's goal means Malaga are going through as it stands. Get that liveblog open in another tab.

24 min Chance! Muslera with a superb save to deny Di Maria! Muslera's reflexes are excellent as he sticks out a left hand to deny Di Maria, who had latched on to a nifty backheel from Ronaldo and fired a shot towards the keeper's left corner.

23 min Higuain pinged for a foul wide out on the right, giving Sneijder the chance to whip a free-kick into the mixer. It's wasted, though, as Zan is flagged for offside.

22 min So much anger and noise in this football match. It's like everyone, collectively, has been told by the Ryanair check-in that they owe £76.43 for some harsh administration charge.

20 min Sneijder in the book for some overzealous complaining as Eboue is pinged for a foul while trying to get to the ball before the goal line.

18 min Essien motors down the right flank but is cynically checked by Felipe Melo. They're cool, though, as Melo's slap on the backside of a forgiving Essien proves.

16 min Chance! Felipe Melo puts a delicious ball in but Sneijder, making a late run over on the right of the box, cannot quite connect. Just needed a touch but he set off in too tardy a fashion.

14 min Sneijder puts a lovely ball into the box but Varane is there to clear it away. Quality delivery and an equally sharp bit of defending from the French youngster.

12 min Clive Tyldesley, possibly with a director in his ear, tells us to sit back and enjoy the Real Madrid show. Ronaldo won't want to settle for one goal, he says, as the nation draws for the Sky+ remote and loads up Game of Thrones.

9 min Ronaldo collects himself after the goal and sets off a superb run, beating two men before firing from outisde of the box and into the mits of Muslera. A fierce effort, full of power, but straight at the Gala keeper.

8 min GOAL! Galatasaray 0 - Real Madrid 1 (Ronaldo) This tie is ooooveeeer. Finito. Kaput. Done. Khedira, on the overlap, cuts the ball across the face of goal and Ronaldo, who else, is there to pounce.

6 min Ozil does jolly well to control a long ball towards him on the right, in spite of the chorus of whistles and booing.

5 min Decent period of possession from Galatasary ends with the ball spread wide to Eboue. He tries to go outside Coentrao and off to the byline but as he loses his footing and the ball skids away for a goal kick. "Technically average," is Andy Townsend's verdict on Oboue. Takes one to know one, eh?

3 min Chance! Di Maria's inches away from an early goal! Chaos in the Galatasaray defence and the ball breaks to Di Maria. He has an unguarded net to aim at but his long-range effort picks up a deflection and dribbles wide.

2 min Drogba is down following a challenge from Modric, of all people. Sneijder, working overtime to hide his thinning hair, hits a pass too long and it's out for a goal-kick.

19.47 We're running late. Assume it's so the TV directors can do moody zoom-ins on Droga and Ronaldo. They have been completed and the whistle can be blown.

19.44 Ah ha, the players have joined their minature mascots and are trotting out for the Champions League hymn/handshake pre-match nonsense. Sneijder has an impressive 'collar-up' Sloaney look tonight.

19.34 The lads have not been flown out to Turkey. They're studio-bound but it hasn't stopped Roy Keane reclining as if he Lee Dixon and Gareth Southgate are grilling Chilesy in the laddiest, and most informal, job interview ever.

19.30 Chilesy and the lads have kicked off on ITV1. "Jose Mourinho has won the Champions League," states Chilesy in his opening salvo. Yes, we know. "But he hasn't with Real," he continues. Yes, that makes (a little bit) more sense as an intro.

Real Madrid's pursuit of la decima, a 10th European Cup, continues to gather pace. They were far too intelligent and potent on the counter-attack for Fatih Terim's Galatasaray, who were far too disorganised defensively.

Galatasaray: Muslera, Eboue, Zan, Kaya, Riera, Altintop, Felipe Melo, Inan, Sneijder, Bulut, Drogba.Subs: Iscan, Aydin Yilmaz, Elmander, Balta, Kurtulus, Amrabat, Sarioglu.

Real Madrid: Diego Lopez, Essien, Pepe, Varane, Fabio Coentrao, Khedira, Modric, Di Maria, Ozil, Ronaldo, Higuain.Subs: Casillas, Benzema, Marcelo, Arbeloa, Albiol, Callejon, Morata.

If we lose 4-0 or 5-1 or on penalties, the world will open their mouths, it would be a very bad situation for all of us. Especially for Real Madrid because it would be something unexpected, we have everything to lose and nothing to win because everyone is waiting for us (to progress).

My challenge is to not think about the 3-0 but to think about a football match. And when you want to think about a football match you want to win and you play to win, and that's my challenge to the players.

If we come here tomorrow (Tuesday) and lose 2-0 or if we lose 3-1, I'm not going to be happy, I'm not going (to go) home happy. I want to win the match and if we can't win we will try to have a draw.

18.40 Good evening and thanks for joining me for live coverage of this (pretty much) academic Champions League quarter-final second leg between Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid and Turkish giants Galatasaray.

Real currently hold a 3-0 advantage in the tie having cruised to a one-sided victory in the first leg and it take some imagination to envisage a scenario that involves them ceding that big lead. But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy it, does it?

Real's squad oozes with class - even without the suspended duo of Sergio Ramos and Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso - and they are in hungry goal-scoring form having knocked five past Levante on Saturday. So even if this match is meaningless after the first leg we're still going to be watching 11 very decent footballers in action so there's no need to get downbeat, okay?

Galatasary fans probably have just cause to remain downbeat for the duration, especially given the absence of striker Burak Yilmaz, tied with Lionel Messi as the second-highest scorer in the competition with right. He is suspended after picking up a booking for simulation in the first leg, even though replays showed that Ramos made contact with him. Gala's appeal fell on deaf ears so they've had to man up and make do for tonight's tie. What do you think?

It's probably a bit harsh, but would Yilmaz have made any difference anyway? I doubt it. You doubt it. We all doubt it. Let's continue with the preamble.

Via: [Soccer Live] Brno - Sigma Olomouc - Czech Gambrinus Liga

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