Mighty Madrid ease past APOEL

Real Madrid fought past some stubborn resistance from Cypriot minnows APOEL Nicosia to record a 3-0 victory in the UEFA Champions League.

Benzema hits brace as Primera Liga leaders ease to victory

Real Madrid were made to sweat but eventually fought past some stubborn resistance from Cypriot minnows APOEL Nicosia to record a 3-0 victory in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final at the G S Pancypria Stadium. The nine-time European Cup winners were made to work hard for 74 minutes before Karim Benzema broke the deadlock with a diving header from Kaka's devilish delivery from the left. And eight minutes later the Brazilian substitute doubled the advantage, finishing off Marcelo's pull-back. The visitors added a third in stoppage time to give the scoreline an emphatic look despite a mighty defensive effort by APOEL, whose giant-killing run has accounted for Lyon, Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk, but who were outclassed on Tuesday. France striker Benzema slotted home Mesut Ozil's low cross for his 27th goal of the season.

Frustration

In the opening minutes, Fabio Coentrao shot well wide and a frustrated Cristiano Ronaldo was beckoned to his feet by referee Felix Brych after tumbling over Savvas Poursaitidis. Benzema was guilty of a shocking miss in the 33rd minute when he hung a foot out at Ronaldo's low cross but stubbed the ball into the ground and it bounced over the bar. Ronaldo sliced wide when picked out by Ozil as Real were held at bay until the interval. Benzema lashed over from the edge of the box early in the second half and Ronaldo was similarly inaccurate before another Benzema effort was blocked. Ailton lifted the home crowd with a wonderful solo run down the left before being fouled by Sergio Ramos, but the free-kick came to nothing.

Changes

Jose Mourinho was driven to a double change in an attempt to lift Real, introducing his own Kaka and Marcelo for Higuain - injured a few minutes previously - and Coentrao. Esteban Solari, the brother of former Real stalwart Santiago, stepped off the APOEL bench - but soon found his side trailing as the better-known Kaka crossed deliciously from the left and Benzema dived to head past Chiotis. The keeper saved Ronaldo's drive with his legs and then fumbled Kaka's effort as Real sought a killer second goal. And it duly arrived as Marcelo was caught in the box by Paulo Jorge but kept his balance and cut the ball back for Kaka to slot home. Benzema tucked away Ozil's inviting low pass in the last minute as Real put the tie to bed ahead of April 4's return leg.

Apoel Nicosia	Team Statistics	Real Madrid
0	Goals	3
0	1st Half Goals	0
0	Shots on Target	8
0	Shots off Target	15
0	Blocked Shots	5
1	Corners	4
13	Fouls	11
3	Offsides	2
0	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0
60.6	Passing Success	88.5
18	Tackles	12
61.1	Tackles Success	58.3
22.6	Possession	77.4
31.3	Territorial Advantage	68.7
203	Total Passes	719
3	Total Crosses	36
143	Lost Balls	156
28	Recoveries	56
23.7	1st Half Poss.	76.3
20.1	2nd Half Poss.	79.9