Real Madrid cruises 3-0 over Galatasaray, Malaga hold Dortmund

Real Madrid thrashed Galatasaray 3-0 in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday.

Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring after just nine minutes and Karim Benzema's shot put the home side 2-0 ahead 20 minutes later.

Gonzalo Higuain came on for Benzema in the 65th and eight minutes later headed home Madrid's third from a free kick curled in by Xabi Alonso.

In fact, only a few errant shots and some uneven play kept the Blancos from building up a big enough advantage to make next week’s second leg in Istanbul a mere formality.

Didier Drogba could have scored for the visitors in the 12th but his shot went high.

The return leg will be played in Istanbul next Tuesday.

Real have not won the Champions League since Zinedine Zidane's stunning volley beat Bayer Leverkusen at Hampden in 2002 and are searching for a record 10th title this season after seeing off Manchester United in the last round.

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Meanwhile, Spain's Malaga and Borussia Dortmund also played their first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals in La Rosaleda stadium. The match ended in a 0-0 draw with the second leg being held next Tuesday in Germany.

Dortmund's high-paced attack led by Mario Goetze and Robert Lewandowski produced several scoring chances for the German champions, but their lack of finishing touch and Caballero's saves let the hosts keep their seventh clean sheet in 11 games.

Malaga will have a slight away-goal advantage when it visits Dortmund for the return leg on April 9.


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