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MUNICH, Germany -- Sergio Ramos has his redemption, Cristiano Ronaldo has his goal record and Real Madrid is one win away from the long-awaited "Decima. White Mens Earl Thomas III Limited Jersey ." Real Madrid carried out coach Carlo Ancelottis game plan to perfection and routed title holder Bayern Munich 4-0 on Tuesday to reach its first Champions League final in 12 years. Madrid will play either Chelsea or city rival Atletico Madrid in the May 24 final in Lisbon. Madrid, a 5-0 aggregate winner over Bayern, will be seeking a record 10th title -- "La Decima" in Spanish. "We played a perfect game in the first half, we defended very well and pressed very high," Ancelotti said. "We used the space we had for counters, with some great passing." Madrid had never won in Munich in 10 previous matches, losing nine of them. But this time, Ancelottis team put its stamp on the game early and struck with awesome efficiency -- something its Italian coach had promised ahead of the match. Madrids sweeping, fast counterattacks paced by Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Angel Di Maria, along with its tenacious tackling when Bayern tried to come out of the hosts own half, were a huge problem for Bayerns defence. However, the first two goals came from set pieces, as well as the last. Ramos, who missed the crucial penalty when Madrid lost to Bayern at the same stage in 2012 in a shootout, scored those first two goals and Ronaldo added two more to break the Champions League season record with a tally of 16. Ramos headed the first from a corner taken by Luka Modric in the 16th and nodded in the second four minutes later after a free kick from Angel Di Maria. "We prepared the set pieces and we used them to make things easy for us," Ancelotti said. "We knew they defend with a zone, not man to man." Ronaldo made it 3-0 to Madrid in the 34th minute after a perfectly executed counterattack and completed the victory with a free kick in the 89th as he shattered Barcelona star Lionel Messis record of 14 goals in a season. "Goals are great, satisfying on a personal level, but what matters is what we did as a team. The overall result was deserved," Ramos said. "Its a dream come true. Its a dream game, fantastic for all Madrid fans." After the final whistle, Madrid players put on T-shirts with the words Now for the 10th. It was a bitter defeat for Bayern coach Pep Guardiola, who had enjoyed so much success against Madrid when he was in charge of Barcelona. Bayern was seeking to become the first team to defend the Champions League title but instead slumped to its worst home defeat in the competition, and equaled its heaviest loss overall -- 4-0 away to Barcelona in 2009. Guardiola bemoaned the lack of possession in the first half -- although UEFA statistics show Bayern had two-thirds of possession for the game. "We didnt have ball possession and thats why we had no control," Guardiola said. "Its a great disappointment. 0-4 sounds very bitter," Bayern captain Philipp Lahm said. "We wanted a lot, but we failed tactically in the first half." Madrid had lost three consecutive semifinals, including a 2012 shootout when Ramos missed a penalty. Of five previous semifinal series against Bayern, Madrid had won only one. Coming into the match, Madrid had only two wins in 27 outings in Germany, with six draws. But Ancelotti had won with AC Milan in Bavaria and believed he could do it again. "Id won here, so thats why I felt confident about our chances here," the Italian said. "After 12 years to return to the Champions League final is very good for us." Holding midfielder Xabi Alonso will miss Madrids 13th final because of accumulated yellow cards. There is a good omen for Madrid: every time it had defeated a title holder, it went on to win the title -- in 1998, 2000 and 2002, the last two times getting through past Bayern, it the semifinals and quarterfinals, respectively. Madrid had won only two of its 27 previous matches in Germany, with six draws, but it has eliminated three German teams this season in succession -- Schalke, last seasons runner-up Borussia Dortmund and now Bayern. Ancelotti won the competition twice as a player with AC Milan in 1989 and 1990 -- under the European Cup format -- and then twice as coach of Milan in 2003 and 2007. Super Bowl Two Tone Bobby Wagner Limited Jersey . Speaking to TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun on Friday, Brodeur said "Ive come to the conclusion that Im definitely going to be available July 1. Green 12th Fan Limited Mens Jersey . No way, absolutely no way. If you do, where do you go from there? If you want to progress as a team and as a club you have no chance if you sell players like that.WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Urban Meyer thought Ohio State needed a pregame wake-up call Saturday. The Buckeyes answered with a quick flurry. Interception return, touchdown. Two plays, touchdown. Six plays, touchdown. Two plays, touchdown. And that was just in the first quarter. Doran Grant picked off the first pass of the game, scoring on a 33-yard return, and Braxton Miller threw for 233 yards and four touchdowns as No. 4 Ohio State extended the nations longest winning streak to 21 with a record-breaking rout 56-0 of Purdue. "I saw, not necessarily a sleepy look, but I just didnt like what I saw in our pregame," said Meyer, the Buckeyes coach. "So we brought them in here and kind of rattled them up a little bit and made sure they woke up." Did they ever. The Buckeyes produced the highest scoring total and most lopsided victory margin in the 56-game series, surpassing marks they set in a 49-0 victory in 2010. They handed Purdue (1-7, 0-4) its first back-to-back shutouts in six decades, and the 56-point loss matched the worst in Boilermakers history. Purdue lost 56-0 to Iowa on Oct. 28, 1922 and 56-0 to Chicago on Nov. 9, 1907. It was hardly a surprise. Ohio State (9-0, 5-0) hasnt lost in 22 months. Meyer tied a personal best by winning his 22nd consecutive game, which includes his final victory at Florida. Miller went 19 of 23 before giving way to Kenny Guiton for good in the second half. Guiton was 8 of 11, throwing one TD pass and running for two more. He finished with 98 yards rushing on nine carries, second only to Carlos Hyde who ran for 111 yards on eight carries. Tight end Jeff Heuerman caught five passes for a career-high 116 yards and was one of five different Ohio State receivers to score. Plus, the Buckeyes defence forced two turnovers, added six more sacks to their Big Ten-leading number and limited the Boilermakers to 116 total yards as a large contingent of scarlet-and-grey clad fans turned the road game into a pseudo home contest in the second half when most of the Boilermakers fans left. The combination was enough to keep Ohio State on track for a second straight perfect season and a potential berth in the BCS title game. But the Buckeyes, admittedly, needed some early help. "It was an early morniing, we had to get up early, we had to get prepared, we had to eat well," Miller said. Grey Richard Sherman Limited Alternate Jersey Super Bowl. "We had to get the guys going and the coaches talked to us and got us hyped." Purdue certainly didnt need that. The game that was billed as a blackout turned into a washout. How bad was it? Etling, the freshman, was 13 of 29 for 89 yards. Purdues mistake-prone secondary was gouged so often by the Ohio State quarterbacks that the Boilers gave up a record-breaking scoring total in Ross-Ade Stadium for the second time this season. The Boilermakers head into next weeks game against Iowa with eight consecutive scoreless quarters and with the dubious achievement of failing to reach the red zone for the third consecutive game. Purdue hasnt taken a snap inside the opponents 20-yard line since late in a Sept. 28 loss to Northern Illinois, and still hasnt beaten a Football Bowl Subdivision since Darrell Hazell took over the program after last season. "We didnt tackle very well, we had guys out of place quite a few times (on defence) and we need to get off the blocks," Hazell said. "We cant get a quarterback beat up the way we did. We had problems in pass protection." Miller & Co. made them pay for those miscues, seemingly every time. On the games second snap, Grant stepped in front of B.J. Knauf, picked off Etlings pass and sprinted 33 yards to make it 7-0. Miller then threw a 40-yard TD pass to a wide open Jeff Heuerman on the Buckeyes second offensive play to give Ohio State a 14-0 lead. Before the first quarter ended, Miller threw an 8-yard TD pass to Nick Vannett and a 2-yard shovel pass for a TD to Corey Brown to make it 28-0. Not enough? Guiton threw a 1-yard TD pass to Chris Fields midway through the second quarter, and Miller hooked up with Ezekiel Elliott on a 10-yard scoring pass later in the first half to make it 42-0 at the half. Guiton ran for two scores in the second half to close out the milestone victory. "Were just playing Ohio State ball," Hyde said after the Buckeyes rolled up 640 yards in offence. "I expect this out of the offensive group, you know. Just come out and be explosive all day and put points up and put up yards. Thats what I expect from us."Wholesale Jerseys ' ' ' |
