Before the match kicked off, nobody thought it was a good moment to face Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu, but Málaga CF showed they were capable of competing against every team they face and at any stadium.
The first piece of exciting news for Málaga fans was to see a new homegrown player from the academy make his debut - Pablo wore the number 31 shirt.
The Whites got off to a strong start at their home ground, however Recio cooled the crowd down in minute 7 with a powerful header following a corner kick that was unfortunately saved by Keylor Navas.
Nordin Amrabat upfront, along with Tighadouini were very active in the first half, and hit the far post with a shot in minute 31 that later Juankar sent out.
After the first half hour Kameni began to take centre stage: he made a fantastic save in minute 32 as Jesé tried his luck, and again in minute 33 it was again Jesé following a corner who set up a chance for Cristiano Ronaldo after 34 minutes, but the scoreboard remained level.
The second half kicked off with another amazing save by Kameni as Ronaldo again attempted to put his team in the lead, and later Recio just missed out on glory with a free kick in front of the area as Navas made an incredible save.
Real Madrid began to dominate the match and honed in on the ‘Malaguista’ area. Javi Gracia tried to bring some balance to midfield and brought on Juanpi. With the score still at 0-0, Amrabat launched a left-footer at goal, but narrowly missed the target.
The Blue and Whites haven’t had an easy season so far, and it worsened when Amrabat was sent off with a red card for a foul on Marcelo.
Despite this setback, Javi Gracia’s men held on against a strong Real Madrid, when it looked as though the visitors could have had a taste of victory for the eighth time in history at this stadium.
