Real Madrid survived a scare to beat Champions League minnows Ludogorets Razgrad 2-1 in Sofia tonight.
Marcelinho headed the hosts into the lead after seven minutes, before Cristiano Ronaldo spurned the chance to provide an immediate riposte by missing a penalty.
However, the Portuguese was afforded the chance to make amends soon after and this time made no mistake.
Karim Benzema then replaced the misfiring Javier Hernandez and scored within 10 minutes of coming on, tapping home a Marcelo cross.
Below, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at how Real laboured to victory over their Bulgarian counterparts.
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Match statistics
LUDOGORETS RAZGRAD
Shots: 5
On target: 4
Possession: 39%
Corners: 8
Fouls: 11
REAL MADRID
Shots: 13
On target: 7
Possession: 61%
Corners: 7
Fouls: 11
Was the result fair?
Probably, yes. It would have been hard to begrudge Ludogorets a point had they held on, but there was a sense that Real's quality would ultimately shine through and after plenty of probing, Benzema finally struck gold to spare the Blancos' blushes.
Ludogorets Razgrad's performance
The perceived whipping boys of Group B still haven't got the memo. Two weeks after suffering a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat away to Liverpool, Georgi Dermendzhiev's side hosted the reigning champions and threatened to make a mockery of their 'underdogs' tag by taking the lead. However, it was one-way traffic from there. They produced a resolute defensive performance to combat perhaps the best attack in world football, but in the end it wasn't enough. Still, if qualification to the last 16 was based on moral victories then the Bulgarian minnows would have one foot in the knockout stages.
Real Madrid's performance
It was not pretty but Carlo Ancelotti's side came through unscathed in the end. Will the Italian care? Yes. He saw several of his big-name players fail to assert themselves, which contributed to the narrow margin of victory, and he will want to rectify that anonymity for the clash with Liverpool in two weeks' time. They deserved their win on the balance of play, but the players' indifference might be a cause for concern for Ancelotti.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Vladislav Stoyanov:
The Ludogorets goalkeeper was far and away the most impressive player on the field tonight. First, Stoyanov pulled off a remarkable save to deny Ronaldo from the penalty spot, before replicating his heroics time and time again for the remainder of the game. However, he kept his best until last, diving backwards to tip James's deflected shot over the bar. He did not deserve to be on the losing side.
Biggest gaffe
Javier Hernandez's last contribution in a night to forget for the Mexican was to miss what was effectively an open goal in the second half. Having spurned a hat full of chances in the first 45 minutes, Hernandez had a glorious opportunity to atone for his profligacy but the striker fluffed his lines after Isco had put the chance on a plate for him. It was his first start for Real Madrid and not the way he would have wanted to mark it.
Referee performance
Craig Thomson did not have the best of nights in Sofia and was perhaps conned by Ronaldo, who went down very easily to win the second penalty. The Scot will have better displays.
What next?
Ludgorets Razgrad: Ludogorets are back here in a few days to face Slavia Sofia on Saturday evening.
Real Madrid: Ancelotti and co. resume domestic duties by hosting Athletic Bilbao at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday night.
Shane Callaghan
