Real Madrid book place in last 8 of Champions League

 　　MADRID, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid had few problems in qualifying¹ for the last eight of the Champions League as they defeated CSKA Moscow 4-1 in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Wednesday night.

　　The win, which came thanks to goals from Gonzalo Higuain, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema takes Madrid into the quarterfinals of the competition and keeps alive the club's hopes of winning a tenth European Cup.

　　Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho had said in the run up to the game, that he would start with three strikers, but in the end he only started with two as Cristiano Ronaldo partnered Higuain in attack, while fit-again Karim Benzema was kept on the subs' bench.

　　Madrid did have two attacking midfielders in Kaka and Mesut Ozil on the pitch but it was a more defensive² player, Sami Khedira who was to prove vital with a magnificent³ pass for Higuain to open the score after 25 minutes.

　　Higuain once again proved that he deserves⁴ a place in the Real Madrid starting line up with his fourth goal in three matches.

　　Ahmed Musa came close to levelling the score before the break, but Iker Casillas showed he was alert⁵ to the danger with a good save.

　　Ronaldo doubled Madrid's lead 10 minutes into the second half as he shot from 30 meters and CSKA goalkeeper Sergie Chepchugov made a horrible mess of it, allowing it to bounce⁶ into the back of the net when he really should have made a save.

　　Karim Benzema replaced Higuain with 21 minutes remaining and wasted no time in staking⁷ his claim to a first team place by scoring the third goal a minute later.

　　Zoran Tosic gave his side a slim lifeline when he scored for CSKA with a fine individual goal with 13 minutes remaining, but Ronaldo rounded up the scoring in the last minute of injury time as he finished from a Benzema cross.

1 qualifying   

使具有资格的

参考例句：

• players who fail at the pre-qualifying stage 在预选赛中淘汰掉的选手
• A doctoral candidate is required to pass a qualifying examination. 考博士需通过一个资格考试。

2 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

3 magnificent   

adj.壮丽的，宏伟的；华丽的；极好的

参考例句：

• The museum that we visited is very magnificent.我们参观的博物馆是很宏伟的。
• That's a magnificent task.这是一项宏伟的任务。

4 deserves   

v.应受，应得，值得( deserve的第三人称单数 )；应受报答；应得报酬；应得赔偿

参考例句：

• A wilful fault has no excuse and deserves no pardon. 不能宽恕故意犯下的错误。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is the only poet in this country that deserves the name. 他是这个国家唯一的一位名副其实的诗人。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 alert   

adj.机警的，活泼的，机灵的；vt.使...警觉

参考例句：

• Drivers must be on the alert for traffic signals.驾驶员必须密切注意交通信号。
• The rabbIt'seems to be very alert all its life.兔子似乎一生都小心翼翼，十分警觉。

6 bounce   

n.弹，反弹；冲劲，冲力；v.(使)弹起(跳起)

参考例句：

• She's got a lot of bounce.她浑身都是劲。
• The ball gave a high bounce.那球弹得很高。

7 staking   

n.（道路）立桩标定线，立桩标界；凿缝

参考例句：

• They are staking out the ground for a new football pitch. 他们正在用木桩标出新足球场场地。 来自辞典例句
• I was staking too much on a losing hand. 我对于即将输掉的赌局下的赌注过大了。 来自辞典例句