Real deserving favourites -- with or without Beckham

Real Madrid proved for an hour in Wednesday night's 3-1 win over Porto just why they remain favourites to become European champions for the 10th time this season -- with or without David Beckham.

The England captain was forced to miss the Group F match at the Das Antas stadium after injuring his right foot during Real's 2-0 defeat at Valencia in a Spanish league match on Saturday.

Real coach Carlos Queiroz admitted his team had played badly and deserved to lose at Valencia but they also looked poor for the opening 30 minutes against Porto on Wednesday.

They went behind after just seven minutes when sloppy defending and a mistake by goalkeeper Iker Casillas allowed Porto to snatch the lead.

But Real always have the capacity to raise their game and sweep the opposition aside with the power of their attacking moves, which is exactly what they did.

Queiroz re-shaped his side from the one that lost to Valencia, with Esteban Cambiasso paying the price for a poor game on Saturday by being dropped from the midfield and Solari coming in to play in between midfield and attack.

The more defensive Ivan Helguera who had recovered from a throat infection, replaced Beckham in midfield and, after the initial phase of Porto's dominance, he and the impressive skipper Guti began to win control of the midfield.

That allowed Zinedine Zidane the time and space he needed to create chances for the front men.

Once Helguera equalised for Real with a header from a Solari cross after 28 minutes, Real took control of the match and a second goal from Solari after 37 minutes and a third from Zidane midway through the second half sealed Madrid's victory.

The win illustrated that while Beckham has started his career at Madrid with a series of excellent midfield displays, the team is just as formidable without him.

With Helguera and Guti anchoring a more defensive midfield Real might not be quite as exciting, but it only takes one long pass from Zidane to Luis Figo or Ronaldo to set another attack in motion.

With Beckham in the side Madrid have more options for going forward, but Wednesday's match illustrated that Madrid can also defend when they have to with central defenders Raul Bravo and Francisco Pavon ultimately gaining control over the Porto forwards.

Matters might have been different if Derlei had scored for Porto to put them 2-0 ahead just before Helguera's equaliser, or if a disallowed effort from Benni McCarthy had been allowed just after halftime.

But ultimately, Real overcame the loss of Beckham -- and also striker Raul who made a late appearance as a substitute -- to win easily enough with the one disappointment being the form of a largely anonymous Ronaldo.

For Porto, who won the UEFA Cup last season, the step up in class to the Champions League does not seem an unbridgeable one. They played very well in patches, but against Real that is not enough.

They have a reasonable chance of qualifying for the last 16 but could also end up back defending the UEFA Cup if they finish third in the group.