A 'bland' Real Madrid defeats Salzburg and dreams of the Champions Round of 16 (5-1)

Despite still leaving much to be desired on the pitch, Real Madrid is managing to get results in their favor. The whites returned to action in the UEFA Champions League 24/25 against RB Salzburg at the Santiago Bernabéu and achieved a crucial victory that guarantees their participation in the playoffs and allows them to dream of direct qualification to the Round of 16.

The first 45 minutes were of a sleepy pace and maintained the script of all the whites' matches this season: they were outplayed by their opponent but punished them in isolated actions. The Austrians seemed to control the match, but their lack of precision in front of Thibaut Courtois's goal ultimately cost them.

At the 24th minute, Rodrygo found the ball bouncing inside the area and opened the scoring. Ten minutes later, after a great combination with Jude Bellingham, the '11' Madrid player doubled the lead for Carlo Ancelotti's side, sending both teams into halftime with a comfortable lead for the locals.

A 'gift' condemned Salzburg

Upon returning from the locker rooms, Salzburg goalkeeper Blaswich fell asleep in the small area with the ball at his feet, and Kylian Mbappé took advantage to snatch it away and put distance between the two teams.

Subsequently, Vinicius Jr. sealed the match by scoring a brace to give the Madridistas the win, who despite their poor play and a stunning goal from Bidstrup as the match was winding down, had a comfortable night against a rival that crumbled as the minutes went by and was unable to put up a fight at the Bernabéu.

Thus, the Madrid team is positioned in sixteenth place in the standings and secured, at the very least, their participation in the playoffs, although they still keep their hopes alive of entering a 'top 8' that would allow them to qualify directly for the Round of 16. In the last matchday, they will fight for this possibility on the field of Brest.

Match details:

• Real Madrid, 5: Courtois; Valverde, Asencio, Rüdiger (Jacobo, min. 78), Mendy; Ceballos (Güler, min. 64), Modric, Bellingham (Alaba, min. 64); Rodrygo (Brahim Díaz, min. 72), Vinicius Jr. y Mbappé (Endrick, min. 72).
• RB Salzburg, 1: Blaswich; Dedic, Baidoo, Blank, Terzic; Yeo (Diambou, min. 63), Capaldo (Kawamura, min. 82), Bidstrup, Gloukh (Gourna-Douath, min. 82); Dorgeles (Piatkowski, min. 63) y Daghim (Ratkov, min. 88).
• Goals: 1-0, Rodrygo (min. 23); 2-0, Rodrygo (min. 34); 3-0, Mbappé (min. 48); 4-0, Vinicius (min. 48); 5-0, Vinicius (min. 77); 5-1, Bidstrup (min. 85).
• Referee: Dennis Johan Higler. He sanctioned the madridista Vinicius Jr.