THERE WAS ANOTHER slice of Champions League history for Cristiano Ronaldo as Borussia Dortmund’s miserable campaign ended with a 3-2 defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.
Ronaldo, already the competition’s all-time highest goalscorer, became the first player in history to convert in all six group-stage matches when he gave Los Blancos a two-goal lead, but Lucas Vazquez clinched the win in the 81st minute after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s double levelled.
Borja Mayoral took just eight minutes to make the most of replacing the misfiring Karim Benzema as one of five changes by Zinedine Zidane, finding the back of the net for the first time in the Champions League.
Madrid’s blistering start continued as Ronaldo curled home his landmark effort one day before finding out if he will match Lionel Messi’s record of five Ballons d’Or, though Dortmund halved the deficit when Aubameyang punished the defending champions for over-playing at the back.
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Kirchner / David Inderlied
Kirchner / David Inderlied / David Inderlied
Aubameyang has never hidden his desire to play for Madrid and it would have been hard for the home fans not to admire the clever second-half chip over Keylor Navas that looked likely to earn Peter Bosz’s struggling side a draw.
Vazquez had other ideas, though, as the hosts, who were already guaranteed to finish second prior to kick-off, picked up their first win in three matches.
Dortmund pipped APOEL to a place in the Europa League despite an eighth outing in all competitions without a victory.
Elsewhere tonight, Maribor and Sevilla played out a 1-1 draw in Group E and the Spaniards advance as runners-up, three points clear of Spartak Moscow.
In Group F, Napoli will be playing in the Europa League next year after results didn’t go their way. Manchester City were beaten in Donetsk while the Serie A side suffered an away defeat to bottom side Feyenoord.
In Group G, Besiktas continued their unbeaten run with victory over RB Leipzig while Porto ensured second place after a resounding 5-2 win over Monaco. The French champions, incredibly, failed to win a game and embarrassingly suffer European elimination.
The42 has just published its first book, Behind The Lines, a collection of some of the year’s best sports stories. Pick up your copy in Eason’s, or order it here today (€10):
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More Champions League history for Cristiano Ronaldo as Dortmund's miserable form continues
THERE WAS ANOTHER slice of Champions League history for Cristiano Ronaldo as Borussia Dortmund’s miserable campaign ended with a 3-2 defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.
Ronaldo, already the competition’s all-time highest goalscorer, became the first player in history to convert in all six group-stage matches when he gave Los Blancos a two-goal lead, but Lucas Vazquez clinched the win in the 81st minute after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s double levelled.
Borja Mayoral took just eight minutes to make the most of replacing the misfiring Karim Benzema as one of five changes by Zinedine Zidane, finding the back of the net for the first time in the Champions League.
Madrid’s blistering start continued as Ronaldo curled home his landmark effort one day before finding out if he will match Lionel Messi’s record of five Ballons d’Or, though Dortmund halved the deficit when Aubameyang punished the defending champions for over-playing at the back.
Aubameyang has never hidden his desire to play for Madrid and it would have been hard for the home fans not to admire the clever second-half chip over Keylor Navas that looked likely to earn Peter Bosz’s struggling side a draw.
Vazquez had other ideas, though, as the hosts, who were already guaranteed to finish second prior to kick-off, picked up their first win in three matches.
Dortmund pipped APOEL to a place in the Europa League despite an eighth outing in all competitions without a victory.
Elsewhere tonight, Maribor and Sevilla played out a 1-1 draw in Group E and the Spaniards advance as runners-up, three points clear of Spartak Moscow.
In Group F, Napoli will be playing in the Europa League next year after results didn’t go their way. Manchester City were beaten in Donetsk while the Serie A side suffered an away defeat to bottom side Feyenoord.
In Group G, Besiktas continued their unbeaten run with victory over RB Leipzig while Porto ensured second place after a resounding 5-2 win over Monaco. The French champions, incredibly, failed to win a game and embarrassingly suffer European elimination.
The42 has just published its first book, Behind The Lines, a collection of some of the year’s best sports stories. Pick up your copy in Eason’s, or order it here today (€10):
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