real madrid cf's iker casillas will set a record for most uefa champions league games for a goalkeeper against ac milan but is more interested in giving the madrid fans "a good feeling".
real madrid cf goalkeeper iker casillas expressed his desire to "see all of ac milan's stars on the field" as the two giants of european football prepare to meet once more.
should the 29-year-old line up against the rossoneri on tuesday he will move ahead of oliver kahn as the uefa champions league's leading appearance holder for a goalkeeper, yet despite being on the verge of reaching such a milestone, milan's arrival in the spanish capital stirred bad memories for the fifa world cup winner.
"to be honest, against italian teams i have more bad memories than good," casillas confessed. "i remember losing a couple of ties against juventus over the years which hurt but statistics are there to be updated and tuesday against milan will see a very competitive game between great players."
going into the game on the back of three successive serie a victories will add to the confidence of a milan side who triumphed in the corresponding fixture at the santiago bernabéu last term. morale is also high among josé mourinho's group g leaders who have made an unbeaten start to the season, a record casillas wants to continue.
"we have a young team that's still in the construction stage but this game arrives at a good moment for us," he said. "we have more belief in ourselves and we would like to go a step further in terms of confidence. maybe you could say it's the first really 'big' game of the season against a side who, along with being well-established, have added some really formidable names. that said, i'm not worrying about their lineup, i'm more concerned that we play well and that our fans leave with a good feeling. as our coach said, it's one more game, not that those words stop it from being real madrid versus ac milan."
his position among the legends of madrid already established, casillas has also earned himself a place among the greats of the uefa champions league and the two-time competition winner was quick to thank the club who started him on the road to achieving so much success. "madrid have given me the chance to reach 104 champions league games on tuesday, something which might not have been possible with another team, especially after just 11 seasons but i'm still a long way off considering retirement."
1. real madrid cf...3...3...0...0...5...0...5...9 2. ac milan...3...1...1...1...3...3...0...4 3. afc ajax...3...1...1...1...3...4...-1...4 4. aj auxerre...3...0...0...3...1...5...-4...0
two goals in as many first-half minutes sent josé mourinho's side five points clear of the rest in group g though the margin could have been greater.
real madrid cf went five points clear at the top of group g after two goals in as many first-half minutes from cristiano ronaldo and mesut özil earned victory against ac milan.
josé mourinho may be a long way off realising his ambition of becoming the first coach in uefa champions league history to win the competition with three different clubs, yet he will be delighted with his team's progress. an early goal always helps and here they had two, ronaldo breaking the deadlock on 13 minutes before teeing up a second for özil almost straight from the restart. milan could not muster a response.
the hosts went into the game having lost their previous three home meetings against italian opposition – including a 3-2 defeat by milan at the same stage last term – but fears of that run being extended were soon allayed. winning a free-kick on the edge of the milan area, xabi alonso stepped aside to allow ronaldo to fire through a poorly-formed wall and past goalkeeper marco amelia.
it was a frustrating start for amelia, making his milan debut in place of the injured christian abbiati. it soon got worse, the 28-year-old left stranded when özil's shot took a big deflection off daniele bonera and dropped into the empty net after a strong run from ronaldo.
massimiliano allegri's side came back into the contest and went close to pulling a goal back shortly before the half-hour when a combination of iker casillas and the crossbar kept out andrea pirlo's clever free-kick. clarence seedorf also scooped over when well positioned yet despite the scares, mourinho's side were dominant.
the industrious ángel di maría deflected a ronaldo pass over and had he opted to pass rather than go it alone on one blistering counterattack it would surely have been 3-0. at least ronaldo gave amelia chance to show his skills, drawing a flying save from a goalkeeper relieved to hear the half-time whistle soon after.
the break brought only temporary respite for the rossoneri; the onslaught resumed after the restart. gonzalo higuaín ended a slick move with a header that was saved low down by amelia and sami khedira and ronaldo both spurned presentable chances to secure madrid's third win of the group stage.
los merengues would not be denied, however, despite a late rally from the visitors, zlatan ibrahimović diverting filippo inzaghi's cross just wide.
şampiyonlar ligindeki ilk golünü atan mesut özil twitter'da şunları yazdı: "hi everyone, i scored my first cl-goal at bernabeu. it was such an incredible feeling to do this in front of all our amazing fans. #ozil"
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