The first eight times Cordoba faced Real Madrid at the Bernabéu they lost. The newly promoted club’s ninth trip didn’t go any better in terms of the result, but only losing 2-0 against the Spanish giants should give Cordoba belief that they can compete in La Liga this season.
Real Madrid vs. Cordoba: Final score 2-0, Los Blancos not at their best in win over Los Califas
Real Madrid weren’t particularly impressive against newly promoted Cordoba, but they still managed to open their season with a win.
Real Madrid's first good chance came in the 19th minute after a strong start from Cordoba. Luka Modrić's free kick from 25 yards out went short across the stop of the box to Cristiano Ronaldo, catching the Cordoba defense by surprise. Fortunately for the visitors, Juan Carlos was paying attention and fought off Ronaldo's shot and then fought off Sergio Ramos to collect the lose ball.
In the 30th minute Real Madrid didn't waste their chance and took a 1-0 lead. Toni Kroos fired a corner kick to the near post where Karim Benzema got up over a Cordoba defender and powered a header off the inside of the post and in.
Cordoba hung around as the second half rolled on thanks to a combination of Real Madrid not looking very cohesive in the attack and goalkeeper Juan Carlos being spectacular on multiple occasions. That’s not to say that Carlos single-handedly kept the visitors in the match; while his saves were vital, Los Califas played very well and were able to attack Madrid with some success.
It appeared that Cordoba had scored the equalizer in the 70th minute when Fidel’s shot from distance was misplayed by Iker Casillas. Xisco jumped on the rebound and put the ball in the net, but he was correctly ruled offside.
Ronaldo had a goal disallowed in the 87th minute after he jumped the gun just a bit on his run as Modrić put a perfect ball through. He finally got a shot past Carlos, but the linesman’s flag was up, much to the striker’s annoyance. Two minutes later Ronaldo was not offside as he sent a skipping shot from distance past Carlos to secure the result for Madrid.
Real Madrid: Casillas, Arbeloa (Carvajal 73’), Marcelo, Ramos, Pepe, Kroos, Modrić, Ronaldo, Rodriguez (Isco 73’), Bale, Benzema (Khedira 76’)
Goals: Benzema (30’), Ronaldo (90’)
Cordoba: Carlos, Pantic, Crespo, Lopez, Pinillos (Cartabia 45’), Rossi, Gunino, Silva, Matos (Fidel 62’), Garai, Havenaar (Xisco 67’)
Goals: None
See More:
