Champions League: Manchester United grab draw at Real Madrid

Champions League: Manchester United grab draw at Real Madrid
Manchester United have to thank goalkeeper David de Gea for an outstanding performance as they left the Bernabeu unbeaten after the much awaited clash with Real Madrid. Danny Welbeck put the visitors ahead early on from a Wayne Rooney corner but former Red Devils star Cristiano Ronaldo made it all square before half time with a superb header. The match was absolutely spectacular as both teams constantly tried to score. The fun started very early as Fabio Coentrao tried his luck with a very good shot that was turned on to the post by De Gea and ended with Robin Van Persie hitting the bar before having an effort cleared off the line late in the game. Angel Di Maria had the first good chance of the match as he fired narrowly wide before Coentrao was denied by an awesome save from De Gea with a bit of help from the post. United survived the early pressure and struck after 20 minutes when Danny Welbeck met Rooney's corner kick cross with a perfect header that went past goalkeeper Lopez. Real started pouring forward and the equaliser came as a natural consequence of their dominance. Cristiano Ronaldo was the man to score on the half hour as he jumped and directed a perfect header past De Gea following Di Maria's cross. The game wasn't over yet, it was just the beginning. Danny Welbeck had a chance to strike back for United but fired wide before Rooney directed his finish off target as well. Real Madrid continued to attack after half time and goalkeeper De Gea had to pull off another great save to stop Coentrao once again. On the other end of the pitch Robin Van Persie had a pair of good chances. First his good shot was tipped on to the crossbar by goalkeeper Lopez and then failed to find the back of the net from a very good position seconds later as Alonso cleared off the line. David De Gea was in action again with 11 minutes left on the clock, this time denying Khedira while Van Persie had another opportunity in the closing moments but his shot was turned away by Lopez. Despite the good result for United the bookmakers still have Real Madrid as favourites to qualify for the quarter finals. At Bet365 the odds for qualification read 4/5 for Real Madrid and 1/1 for Manchester United, a slight edge for Jose Mourinho's men.
General Sportsbook News Sports Events Back to articles