Champions League round-up: Ronaldo has Bernabeu in raptures
Thursday 01 October 2009
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While Manchester United were struggling to overcome Wolfsburg, former Old Trafford favourite Cristiano Ronaldo was maintaining his blistering start to life at Real Madrid with two goals in their 3-0 win over Marseilles.
The French side had frustrated the Bernabeu for nearly an hour before Ronaldo took control of the game, being involved in all three goals in a six-minute burst. He scored the first in the 58th minute, racing beyond the Marseilles defence before slotting home. A minute later the former Charlton defender Souleymane Diawara brought the Portuguese winger down in the penalty area. Diawara was sent off and Kaka scored from the spot.
However, it was Ronaldo's second in the 64th minute which really brought the house down, combining slickly with Kaka and Karim Benzema for a goal almost worth the £170m it cost to buy the trio in the summer. But his night ended soon after as he was taken off with an ankle injury picked up while winning the penalty.
While Real have a 100 per cent record in both the Champions League and La Liga this season, Milan's poor start under new coach Leonardo hit a new low when they were beaten 1-0 at San Siro by FC Zurich. Hannu Tihinen, who had a spell with West Ham in 2001, scored the Swiss side's winner with a backheel at a 10th-minute corner. Ronaldinho was brought on at half-time and Gianluca Zambrotta hit a post, but Milan did little to rouse a half-empty stadium.
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