Shamrock Rovers glamour friendly tie with Spanishgiants ended in a one nil defeat last night. The hoops played well throughout although Madrid were always dangerous. Cristiano Ronaldo made his Madrid debut but looked short of match practise. He had two free kick efforts one wide and the other against the wall before he was substituted at half-time. Sean O'Conor had a glorious chance to give Rovers the lead when he cut in from the right but with the goal at his mercy shot wide.
Real upped the tempo in the second half as Van der Vart had 2 chances. One was a tremendous effort an overhead kick. New 30 million signing Karim Benzema struck the post near the hour mark and looked lively. The French striker broke the Hoops faithful hearts when he controlled a long pass to race through and score with three minutes left on the clock. The Dublin side should be proud of their efforts as Madrid showed them great respect bringing all their top players with them.