SOCCER / Real Madrid 4 Monaco 2: Four goals in 30 second-half minutes transformed a most unpromising night for Real Madrid and should have rendered all talk of anxiety at the Bernabeu ridiculous.
Trailing 1-0 at half-time to Sebastien Squillaci's opener, Real reacted with a display of power led by Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo that appeared to wash Monaco's hopes away.
But then, with time running out, Fernando Morientes - on loan from Real at Monaco - rose to drill in a header that made the scoreline 4-2 and resuscitated French optimism for the second leg.
Real should still have plenty in hand, but Morientes' intervention gives them food for thought, as did the late booking for David Beckham which rules him out of the second leg.
Real did not begin like a side with low self-esteem. In the ninth minute Zidane swivelled and swept in a cross from the left that Raul rippled the top of the net from.
Seven minutes later a sublime reverse pass from Figo released Michel Salgado. But his chipped centre was missed by Ronaldo.
But it was the returning hero, Morientes, who the Bernabeu gazed upon. "El Moro" played 170 league games for Real. They like him here and are unhappy he is on loan.
After an early warning, when Ronaldo put an unmarked, five-yard header from a wonderful Figo cross a yard wide, Monaco attacked.
Ludovic Giuly set off on a run from halfway and his shot was saved by Iker Casillas. But from the resulting corner Giuly was once more first on the ball. A swift twirl enabled him to drag the ball across to the penalty spot where Squillaci had a split second to poke a shot past the challenges of Casillas and substitute Francisco Pavon.
Carlos Queiroz, patrolling his technical area for much of the first half, needed a response. Six minutes into the second half and he got one. Raul had a header tipped over by Flavio Roma. Beckham ran from one side of the pitch to the other to take the corner and received an ovation for doing so.
A trademark driven ball came in and as a host of players jumped Pavon leapt highest and his soft header just cleared the line. Relief turned quickly to expectation, and when Ronaldo struck a superb volley shortly after, it again felt like Real were about to take over. But in the 65th minute Beckham failed to hit the target when free in the Monaco area and the impetus could have been lost.
Zidane then had his legs taken away by Lucas Bernardi in the box. The referee ignored the claim and the stadium was outraged.
Their anger did not last long. Two minutes later Roma blocked a Figo volley but the rebound fell to Zidane, who squeezed in a low shot.
Soon Lubos Michel did award a penalty after a Squillaci challenge on Ronaldo. Figo took the penalty. Roma saved with a fist but the ball fell nicely back to Figo, who headed in the third. A fourth was to come from Ronaldo, but then Morientes nabbed that late second for Monaco.
REAL MADRID: Casillas, Salgado, Bravo (Pavon 28), Mejia, Helguera, Beckham, Guti (Borja 77), Figo, Zidane, Raul, Ronaldo (Solari 82). Subs Not Used: Cesar, Portillo, Cambiasso, Juanfran. Booked: Beckham. Goals: Helguera 51, Zidane 69, Figo 76, Ronaldo 81.
MONACO: Roma, Evra (El Fakiri 89), Givet (Ibarra 83), Squillaci, Rodriguez, Bernardi, Cisse (Plasil 65), Rothen, Zikos, Giuly, Morientes. Subs Not Used: Sylva, Prso, Adebayor, Ablancourt. Booked: Bernardi, Squillaci. Goals: Squillaci 43, Morientes 83.
Referee: Lubos Michel (Slovakia).
