Apoel Nicosia vs Real Madrid ended in a 0-3 defeat of the dream following club from southern Cyprus, where Kaka inspired Real Madrid coming from bench. Video

Nicosia / NationalTurk – Forgive us, Cinderella, the slipper doesn’t fit this time vs Real Madrid. APOEL’s fairytale Champions League 2012 run is surely over after a 3-0 home defeat vs Real Madrid. The Cypriot underdogs now face the mission impossible in the second leg of Champions League quarter final tie at the Real Madrid temple Bernabeu next week.

Apoel vs Real Madrid : Real Madrid dominated Apoel, the nasty suprise of Champions League

Apoel vs Real Madrid game saw a dominant Real Madrid from the start on, they filled Apoel goal with three late goals, and are now firm favourites to reach the semi-finals of Champions League 2012, where they would face either Marseille or Bayern Munich, who play their first leg against eachother today.

Kaka came off the bench to inspire Real Madrid to victory over a spirited Apoel Nicosia side in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie. The Cypriots had already accounted for Lyon – perrenial foes of Madrid in the Champions League – and despite losing defender Marcelo Oliveira to injury inside 10 minutes produced a rousing first-half display to shut out Jose Mourinho’s side.

Apoel vs Real Madrid : First half Apoel’s luck continued

French striker Karim Benzema had missed an open goal in the first half before he buried a curling cross from Kaka. Ozil tested goalkeeper Dionisis Chiotis with a volley and then Benzema somehow missed from three yards out minutes before the interval.

Ailton lifted the home crowd with a wonderful solo run down the left at the start of the second period before the introduction of Kaka and Marcelo triggered a change of gear by Real.

Brazilian Kaka – who was in superb form – then finished off a fine run and pass from fellow substitute Marcelo.Kaka crossed deliciously from the left and Benzema dived to head past Chiotis, before Marcelo was caught in the box by Paulo Jorge but kept his balance and cut the ball back for the former AC Milan playmaker to slot home.

Apoel vs Real Madrid Highlights : Watch how Real Madrid finished the dream of Apoel

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To their credit, it took Real Madrid nearly 75 minutes to score. Substitute Kaka set up Karim Benzema with a chance he couldn’t miss (and clearly, Benzema was misfiring Tuesday night) in the 74th minute for the opening goal before Real added two more goals in the final 10 minutes.

And Benzema wrapped up the win in stoppage time when he swept in Mezut Ozil’s ball from the right.Benzema then tucked away Ozil’s inviting low pass in the last minute for his 26th Champions League goal to put Real on course for the last four

APOEL lost badly, they never really had a chance, considering they took exactly zero shots all night and held the ball 23 % of the time.

But the pride of Southern Cyprus defended admirably and resolutely. Their defensive organization was impressive, and for more than an hour, they stayed on even terms with one of the best teams on the EARTH. Another part of their defensive success til 74th minute was the goalkeeping of Dionisis Chiotis.

Real Madrid’s expensively assembled squad (one on-air estimate put the cost at 353 times that of APOEL’s roster) needed 74 minutes to score.

Part of the reason for that was APOEL’s defensive organization.

It’s been a rough season for Turkish International Nuri Sahin. After moving to Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund in the summer, after helping the german outfit in their Bundeliga titel run, Nuri Sahin has been sidelined for most of the year with injuries.

He had to wait for his Real Madrid debut until November, and for his first goal in Real Madrid jersey until December. With just nine matches left in the La Liga run-in, Nuri Sahin has made just two league appearances.

Apoel vs Real Madrid : Real’s Turkish star Nuri Sahin played well vs Apoel

Nuri Sahin got a chance Tuesday night in Apoel vs Real Madrid match, and Sahin rewarded eccentric manager Jose Mourinho’s faith in him with a strong performance. He would have earned an assist if not for Benzema’s sloppy finishing from 2 yards of Apoel ‘s goal in the first half of Apoel vs Real Madrid Champions League game, and he displayed some of the creativity that helped Borussia Dortmund to the Bundesliga title in 2010-2011 season.

One night can’t make up for an overwhelmingly disappointing season, but it could serve as a new beginning for Nuri Sahin ‘s Real Madrid career.
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