Keeping Los Blancos undefeated in the tournament, the Portuguese forward assured Madrid of three more points on the group table, upping their total to 13, and securing a place in the Round of 16 with his sixth and seventh goals and first assists in the tournament.
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Shakhtar manager Mircea Lucescu said: “We committed too many blunders and allowed Real to dominate play and score four times”. He waited on the edge of the penalty area where Ronaldo again laid off a little pass. The German curled his shot into the top left hand corner. We put them back into the game.
“At 4-0 of course we thought the game was won”, he said. “And I think it will be unfair as given the chance, time and confidence, then he can improve pretty much any side in the world, as he showed with many teams in the past. There was a lot of commitment and great work from all the players”.
It is a balance Benitez must get right, because although logic says Madrid can afford to lose to Shakhtar, the current situation means they have to turn in a decent performance otherwise the pressure on the coach will turn up another notch.
Luka Modric capped an impressive display with his first goal of the season for Madrid but Benitez refused to single out any one player for specific praise.
“It could have been another type of game”.
Benitez said: “We are all united”. I want to stick with the positive and we’ll analyse the mistakes.
Steven Gerrard has warned Rafa Benitez to keep Cristiano Ronaldo onside if he wants to stay at Real Madrid. Their Ukrainian hosts need a miracle if they’re to make it into the next round, but they’ll still be battling for the third-place finish that would see them fall into the Europa League rather than out of continental competition altogether.
The French giants are willing to pay Real Madrid superstar Ronaldo – preparing to play Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday – a deal worth a staggering £250,000-a-week after tax. “Cristiano is a very hard-working and an important player to our team”.
Shakhtar wasted a free-kick in a promising position shortly after the restart and Madrid made them pay with a clinical second goal.
Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, top, celebrate his side’s 4th goal with teammate, Gareth Bale, during the Champions League Group A soccer match between FC Shakhtar and Real Madrid at Arena Lviv stadium in Lviv, Western Ukraine, Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015.
“But I only talk about this moment”.
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“I am coach of Castilla (the reserves) and Benitez of the first team”.
