a really exciting night ahead of us here at the santiago bernabeu in madrid a warm welcome from me
derek ray i'm joined for commentary by the former arsenal and england defender lee dixon and this is
where it all starts in the uefa champions league the group stage and match day one my goodness
so much to look forward to it's real madrid up against inter yeah it's very important that you're
not playing catch up in the group stages match day one imperative you get off to a good start
so
now
now here's the starting eleven for real madrid tigo courtois is in goal luka modric plays with
casimiro in the center of the pitch and operating through the middle and attack today kareem benzema
hanzanovic gets the node in goal milan skriniar plays alongside stephan defray
in central defense and leading the line lautaro martinez
it's the opening match day champions league group stage match day one underway modric
and valverde david alaba the ball with luka modric
and fed forwards
parella garen benzema who's played at such a high level in an attacking sentence for so long what
do you anticipate seeing from him here lee well when you're playing against a player sometimes
you're trying to look at what his qualities are is he a good hold up player is he quick is
he this is he that but when somebody tells you he's a finisher you know you're in big trouble
it did appear that they might be on to something but not so
not messing around with that clearance
vidal
coloured off he's played the bars up there to evan pedersich efficient play to hold on
to the ball and he's through here and he has players waiting at the back post and a goal
that will do it they've been pushing for it and now they've been rewarded
well as we see again that's how to score goals get the ball into the box from wide
areas but most of the blame has to be leveled at the goalkeeper your coast as a youngster
to always protect your near post and he just didn't do that and paid the price
the opening goal of the game
modric
here's valverde
had a chance to whip it in here well cleared away a real goal from the
corner would really change the complexion of the match a very effective clearance
well nicely cut out now what can they do with the ball
varela and it's with dumfries
martinez moving into the advanced position a fine use of the ball matsuro vidal
it's with milan screenier
eriksen varela has it moving the ball effectively looking for the right moment
great strong tackle throw in forthcoming
effective looking pass
now he must favor the cross
he's very adept at protecting the ball now the attack promising as it was scuppered there
podricks moving it forward well they get themselves level here grab hold of it
trailing as they are what will be the thinking in the camp as you see it lee
well this madrid side just knees might be but he did his job defensively
he's been admonished by the referee he's now got to walk something of a tightrope
yeah he knows exactly where he stands look at the referee how he's told him off there
no yellow card but certainly knows what the referee is thinking
and he finds the net no difficulties encounter
well here it is again and i can tell you what i'm not sure i've ever seen a penalty converted
like this before what is the keeper doing he has to do better he's basically right at him so poor
well the earlier goal cancelled out what a piece
the referee has decided there will be just one minute of added time
erickson's pass not sufficiently accurate
and the first half is in the history books here at the bernabeu
you've certainly got to give this man high marks for his work up to this point lee
well there's never a bad time to score a goal but just before half time can be crucial
and he's got his team back in this game what can he produce in the second half
and so the second half of this champions league group stage match day one contest commences
dumfries well they've won the ball back quickly an authoritative challenge
still on level terms moving the ball nicely
aimed towards him nothing for the players in the middle to work with
he's now got to be extra careful a verbal warning
rather than a caution here yeah the next one he knows where he's going in the book
a penalty miss too much height on it oh my word
you can miss a penalty in all sorts of ways a keeper can save it but to hit it over the bar
oh he's giving us away
martinez barela has it
off
and now perischitch
martinez and attempting the through ball might still be able to do a bit of damage
well no damage done
delightful pass and bath and him with a real chance oh that was a terrific
stop in a one versus one situation well high fives all round for the goalkeeper absolutely
another corner
attending to his defensive chores running with the takes on the shots oh
and it goes sensational strike and now he deserves to celebrate
let's have a look at this replay caught the keeper on his heels and this is why
short backlit great strike takes everybody by surprise
slightly different vantage point in terms of the goal that was scored
and we'll find out a lot about inter's attitude in the aftermath of that concession
vidal
well as we see into in control of possession here but it's just whether they can convert that
possession into clear-cut chances you sense they need to pick up the pace a little start utilizing
the wide areas more the back lines doing a decent job hopefully the forwards can do that as well
now here's arturo vidal this might be ideal for the counter
excellent ball over the top and it looked like open road for them but upper dead end
modric giving the ball away intelligent threaded pass here
pressure exerted but he keeps the ball can he finish here
he might yet finish well that is a defender's job to come to the rescue a good looking move
a real opening now
oh it's in a two goal cushion now and the lead folly mirrors in
well let's look at this again magical football on the break surprise is the key and then
through on goal do you go for placement or do you go for power well he certainly wasn't
messing around was he absolutely smashes it past the keeper it's a really lovely finish
well there's nothing better for a manager when a plan comes together total satisfaction
substitution for real madrid
well that's a tale of four goals in this match now three one it is
just 10 minutes to go
he's holding the ball up here effectively waiting for support to arrive after that fantastic effort
it's gone out for a throw-in for a touch and they no longer have custody of the ball karim benzema
and he takes it on and he'll take efforts like that all day long
well then the second half here and it's almost like a case of whatever they've touched has turned
to goals but what's the hardest thing to do on a football pitch create and score a goal and rial
have done that in abundance tonight they really have they ticked all the boxes for me lovely to
watch the players have all got smiles on the face they're playing with the freedom and you can tell
three minutes of stoppage time that's what the officials have said chance to run at them
and stifled by casimiro and this time to run sadly that's offside
in the office
whistle real madrid pick up all three points in this the opening match
in the champions league yeah really really strong start that's what you need but with
five games to go very important you stay in the now one game at a time derrick bit of a cliche
and the shining light for his side kareem benzema lots of boxes ticked his team won he
scored a penalty kick which he never looked like missing and also had a good performance well done