Roma rattle Real before Madrid bounce back
Real Madrid bounced back from a two goal deficit to beat Roma 4-2 in their Champions League group B match.
Real Madrid bounced back from a two goal deficit to beat Roma 4-2 in their Champions League group B match.
A double from a rejuvenated Raul, along with goals from a Luis Figo penalty and Roberto Carlos, showed what the nine-times European champions are really capable of with their backs against the wall.
The 70,000-strong Santiago Bernabeu crowd were given an early shock though when Roma's Daniele De Rossi found the net with less than three minutes on the clock.
The Real defence was caught square and an inch-perfect pass from Francesco Totti found the midfielder slicing through the back four.
De Rossi then had the relatively easily task, albeit stylishly executed, of chipping the ball over Real goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
Totti was again the tormentor after 21 minutes when his pass found Antonio Cassano on the edge of the area and he blasted the ball home with his left foot.
Roma nearly had a third on the half hour, which might have been a mountain too high for even Real to climb, when Totti's free kick from just outside the area required a full stretch save from Casillas.
Real came back into the game in fortunate fashion seven minutes before the break when Raul's long range-shot from 20 yards took a deflection off Greece's Euro 2004 hero Traianos Dellas, which fooled Roma keeper Ivan Pelizzoli.
The goal ignited Real and Figo got Real's equaliser from the penalty spot six minutes after the break after former Real right back Christian Panucci had fouled Raul.
Raul finished off a Figo cross from wide out on the right after 72 minutes and Roberto Carlos completed the comeback 10 minutes from the whistle with a vicious swerving left foot shot from the edge of the area.
Real fans also witnessed the best all-around perfromance from David Beckham this season, despite his two goals in the league.
The England captain battled for the ball throughout the match and often found the line and length with his passes which had been missing in the last month.
Tuesday's result could also go a long way to giving caretaker coach Mariano Garcia Remon the post on a permanent basis.
One negative note for Real on a night when they restored their credibility was Walter Samuel's booking four minutes from time.
The Argentine international defender will miss the visit of group leaders Dynamo Kiev to the Spanish capital on October 19.
The match will have crucial importance on who qualifies from the group as the Ukrainians had an impressive 4-2 victory over Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday, coming in the wake of the German side's 3-0 thrashing of Real two week ago.
Roma for their part will almost certainly have a new coach in charge for their visit to Leverkusen next month.
Reports from the Italian capital on Tuesday suggested that Luigi Del Neri was on the verge of signing a deal with Roma, even though caretaker Ezio Sella wants to keep the job, in the wake of Rudi Voller resigning on Saturday.