Real coasts to victory

Real Madrid played at half speed and that was enough to thrash Levante, which initially went ahead with a Michel goal on 31 minutes. Higuaín ('36), Kaká (pen. '39), Cristiano Ronaldo ('84) and Mesut Özil, with a brace ('87 and '91), scored the goals for Mourinho's side.

Real got the job done before the tough trip to Istanbul which it has in store next week. Despite what one might expect from the convincing 5-1 scoreline, 'Los Blancos' took some time to take control of the game, which went against them with the opening goal by Levante.

Mourinho had decided to rest several of his regulars, but he ordered Ronaldo to warm up when things started to look complicated. This spurred on the players who were already on the pitch. They got their act together and quickly turned around the scoreline with a Higuaín strike and a Kaká penalty.

The Levante players dropped their heads and were easy prey for their opponents in the final stages of the game, when Real Madrid scored three more goals, coming one after another from its biggest stars: Cristiano Ronaldo, who managed to put his name on the scoresheet, and Mesut Özil, who found time to score a brace during the short space of time that he was on the field of play.