Match ends, APOEL Nicosia 0, Real Madrid 6.
Apoel NicosiaApoel Nicosia0Real MadridReal Madrid6
Cristiano Ronaldo broke another Champions League record as holders Real Madrid thrashed Apoel Nicosia to qualify for the last 16.
Ronaldo scored twice in the second half to take his tally to 18 Champions League goals in 2017 - the most in a calendar year.
Real have been on a poor run but were dominant as they picked up their biggest away win in the competition.
Real will face a group winner in the last 16 as Tottenham won Group H.
Spurs' 2-1 win in Dortmund means Mauricio Pochettino's side have wrapped up the group with a game to spare.
Zinedine Zidane has won the Champions League in each of his two seasons in charge at Real but his side fell 10 points behind Barcelona in La Liga at the weekend.
| Who has qualified for the last 16? | |
|---|---|
| Paris St-Germain | Manchester City (group winners) |
| Bayern Munich | Besiktas (group winners) |
| Tottenham (group winners) | Real Madrid |
A 3-1 defeat by Spurs at Wembley last time out meant they needed to win in Cyprus to qualify, but that was a formality from the moment Luka Modric volleyed in from 25 yards.
Karim Benzema had scored only twice all season but doubled that tally with two neat finishes inside the area, while defender Nacho also headed in.
Ronaldo headed home Marcelo's cross and then scored from the edge of the area to become the third player in the Champions League era to score in each of the first five games of a season.
He has 18 in his last 10 appearances in the competition - and now 113 in total, 16 ahead of Barcelona forward Lionel Messi.
Line-ups
Apoel Nicosia
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 13Pérez
- 29Vouros
- 5Rueda
- 50da Cruz Junior
- 3Lago
- 26Morais BarbosaSubstituted forEbecilioat 66'minutes
- 16Oliveira FrancoSubstituted forFariasat 59'minutes
- 17Zahid
- 20SallaiSubstituted forEfremat 60'minutes
- 46Aloneftis
- 8Poté
Substitutes
- 1Gudiño
- 6Ebecilio
- 7Efrem
- 9de Camargo
- 11Alexandrou
- 25Farias
- 30Merkis
Real Madrid
Formation 4-4-2
- 13Casilla
- 2CarvajalBooked at 90mins
- 5Varane
- 6Nacho
- 12MarceloSubstituted forHernándezat 58'minutes
- 17Vázquez
- 10Modric
- 8KroosSubstituted forCeballosat 59'minutes
- 20Asensio
- 9BenzemaSubstituted forMayoralat 64'minutes
- 7Cristiano Ronaldo
Substitutes
- 3Vallejo
- 14Casemiro
- 15Hernández
- 21Mayoral
- 22Isco
- 24Ceballos
- 35Ramos Wade
- Referee:
- Artur Dias Soares
- Attendance:
- 19,705
Match Stats
Home TeamApoel NicosiaAway TeamReal Madrid
- Possession
- Home29%
- Away71%
- Shots
- Home12
- Away18
- Shots on Target
- Home3
- Away9
- Corners
- Home4
- Away5
- Fouls
- Home8
- Away10
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, APOEL Nicosia 0, Real Madrid 6.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Daniel Carvajal (Real Madrid) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Borja Mayoral.
Post update
Foul by Nacho (Real Madrid).
Post update
Lorenzo Ebecilio (APOEL Nicosia) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Attempt missed. Efstathios Aloneftis (APOEL Nicosia) left footed shot from the left side of the box is too high. Assisted by Georgios Efrem.
Booking
Daniel Carvajal (Real Madrid) is shown the yellow card.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Georgios Efrem (APOEL Nicosia) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Efstathios Aloneftis.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Dani Ceballos (Real Madrid) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Marco Asensio.
Post update
Corner, APOEL Nicosia. Conceded by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Jesús Rueda (APOEL Nicosia) right footed shot from the left side of the six yard box is blocked. Assisted by Georgios Efrem with a cross.
Post update
Corner, APOEL Nicosia. Conceded by Kiko Casilla.
Post update
Lucas Vázquez (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Agustín Farías (APOEL Nicosia).
Post update
Attempt missed. Borja Mayoral (Real Madrid) with an attempt from very close range is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Theo Hernández following a fast break.
Post update
Attempt missed. Efstathios Aloneftis (APOEL Nicosia) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right from a direct free kick.
Post update
Foul by Daniel Carvajal (Real Madrid).
Post update
Ghayas Zahid (APOEL Nicosia) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Post update
Attempt saved. Efstathios Aloneftis (APOEL Nicosia) left footed shot from more than 35 yards is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Post update
Nacho (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Comments
Join the conversation
VOTE UP - if you think Ronaldo would have been World class no matter who managed him.
VOTE DOWN - If you think Sir Alex and United made him World class.
I'm interested to see what people think of raw talent vs good management. Did Brendan Rodgers make Suarez World class? lol.
I learnt that when I visited the museum dedicated to CR.
Regarding the match - I suspect Real had a chip on their shoulder after being soundly beaten by Spurs and wanted to remind people that they are, well, Real Madrid.
Article 18.01 of the CL regulations - The round of 16 pairings are determined by means of a draw in accordance with the following principles:
a. Clubs from the same association cannot be drawn against each other.
So they'll definitely avoid an English team in the first knockout round... Just saying...
Man City v Real Madrid
Man Utd v Bayern
Up there with Mother Teresa. What a man
Again Better goals to game for country.
Scores more in the champions league.
Won a major trophy with his country.
The list could go on and on.
Miles better than Messi it's not even a debate.
Again, CR has scored 17 more goals than Messi in Europe but has played 30+ more games.
Overall CR has 618 goals in 879 games.
They're both exceptional players...why do you feel the need to make up stats for CR?
I reckon it'll be Kane/Jesus, something like that.
Run of the mil win for Madrid here, although I'd expected Nicosia to put up a little more of a fight? Still, congratulations to Ronaldo, no matter what you may think of him, he's truly world class.