Real Madrid defeated the German Borussia Monchengladbach 2-0, but they reached the final eight
of the European Champions League football together, because the second match in this second group
between Italian Inter and Ukrainian, Donetsk Shakhtar ended with a negative tie, on Wednesday.
The Spanish champion led the group with 10 points against Mönchengladbach (8), who surpassed Shakhtar (8),
who would move to the European League, while Inter completely deposited continental competitions
with six points.
Frenchman Karim Benzema was the hero of the first match, scoring two goals with two headers in the 9th
and 32nd minutes, to put pressure off his compatriot and coach Zinedine Zidane.
The start of the royal team, the record holder in the number of continental titles (13 times), was not perfect
in this competition, because it fell at home to Shakhtar 2-3, and then again in front of him 0-2 in the fifth
penultimate round, and therefore was required to win in order to join Elite qualified clubs.
Real’s influential captain, Sergio Ramos, returned to the team after missing the last three matches of his team
with a torn thigh injury that he suffered during the historic victory of his country, Spain, over Germany, with
a clean six on November 15.
Benzema played his 527th match for Real Madrid in various competitions, according to the Opta Statistics website,
thus equating to the record recorded in the name of Brazilian Roberto Carlos as the most foreign player defending
the colors of the royal team.
