Real Madrid have won Group B of the Champions League with a 100% record after an entertaining 4-0 victory at home to Ludogorets Razgrad this evening.
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Madrid flew out of the traps and Cristiano Ronaldo was denied by a fine save before Gareth Bale nodded over the bar in the opening two minutes.
Ludogorets reminded the hosts of their threat on the counter-attack though, as Marcelinho sent a shot at Keylor Navas in the fourth minute.
Asier Illarramendi and Ronaldo went close once more before Virgil Misidjan drew a fine save from Navas in an entertaining opening quarter of an hour.
However, Ludogorets's gameplan unravelled in the 20th minute when Marcelinho was shown a straight red card for handling the ball on the line, and Ronaldo rolled the spot kick down the centre of the goal to put his side a goal ahead.
The red card made an unlikely task for Ludogorets almost impossible and Madrid created chance after chance following Marcelinho's dismissal.
Javier Hernandez came within inches of connecting with Ronaldo's cross before Toni Kroos smashed the upright, with Vladislav Stoyanov denying Ronaldo from the rebound. Hernandez then blazed his subsequent effort over the bar from close range.
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Seven minutes before the interval, Bale made it 2-0 to Madrid with a bullet header that clipped the underside of the bar before bouncing over the line.
Madrid's pressure didn't relent in the second half and Alvaro Arbeloa, Bale and Hernandez all went close early in the second period.
Svetoslav Dyakov almost got a goal back for the Bulgarian outfit, but the midfielder's shot was tipped over the bar by Navas.
At the other end, Hernandez saw a one-one-one effort saved before Arbeloa hit the bar and Bale flashed a strike wide of the far post.
With 10 minutes remaining, Arbeloa netted just his third Madrid goal as his cross-cum-shot crept across the line.
Two minutes before the whistle, Alvaro Medran made it 4-0 to Madrid as the European champions qualified in style.
Kristian Johnson
