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A fourth day of the group stage of the Champions It shouldn’t be a special match for an entity like Real Madrid, the 13-time winner of the most prestigious club tournament in the world. It is obvious that the rival has an influence when it comes to classifying the duel as one of the competition or one with a pedigree, but this is not the case with Shakhtar, who was beaten a fortnight ago in Kiev (0-5) by the white team. In principle, and except for accidents that rarely occur -the quota seems already covered with the defeat against the Sheriff (1-2) at the end of September-, Madrid must leave their qualification for the round of 16 quite on track tonight and begin to think about doing it as first in the group, with the consequent advantage of the field and the draw that this usually entails. Three points that, if achieved, will also generate an extra honor: see which player manages to be the protagonist of the 1,000th goal of the Real Madrid in the European Cup.
The merengue team has reached 999 goals to date -401 in the old European Cup and 598 in the current Champions League- and today it could become the first continental club to reach this magical figure that began to take shape 66 years ago, when Miguel Muñoz scored the first goal in the history of Real Madrid in their fetish competition. It was against Servette, in the round of 32 of the first European Cup (1955-56). Two weeks ago, in Kiev, Benzema scored both 999 of the competition, and in between illustrious names such as Di Stéfano (goal 100, in the semifinals against Barcelona in the 59-60), Puskas (200, against Feyenoord in the 1965-66), Jensen (300, against Progress Niedecorn in the 68-69 campaign), Losada (400, in the 90-91), Guti (500, in the 2000-01), Beckham (600, in the 2003-2004), Higuaín (700, in 2010-11) and Cristiano Ronaldo (800 and 900, in seasons 13-14 and 16-17).
To this list you have Benzema a high number of chances to join today. The French footballer will be the big news against Shakhtar, after resting last Saturday in the league game against Elche. Karim needed oxygen after a demanding start to the season, with no respite between Madrid and the French national team games. The second candidate, for obvious reasons of success this season, will be Vinicius, who surprisingly is not on Tite’s squad list for the next two weeks break. An inexplicable decision from which Carvajal gets a positive reading: «He is showing what a good player he is and, honestly, and being selfish for the team, a rested Vini is good for us and will give us one more plus for the month of December so intense that we will have”.
We will see if in that sum there is also Hazard, on the bullseye after another season, for now, to forget: “Players who don’t play must have faith. Nobody thought that Mariano’s moment could come, he came and he enjoyed it and played very well, showing professionalism. That’s what Eden has to do, ”explains Carlo. «His situation is not easy. Although it seems that it does not matter to him, it is not like that. He tries to change, do different routines … As soon as he picks up the pace and feels good again, he will be a top player who will once again be among the top ten in the world ”, Carvajal encourages him.
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