Real Madrid steamrolls Celtic

 

Emilio Izaguirre, Celtic; Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid

Like it has so many times before, Real Madrid took the field, put on a show and walked away victorious. The opponent didn’t matter, nor did the venue. The result was the same.

A continent away from their homes, families and domestic leagues, the Scottish and Spanish champions met Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia in the final match of this year's World Football Challenge. Celtic was merely the latest victims of Jose Mourinho’s high-priced wrecking ball of talent, falling 2-0 -- although the score belied the match's one-sidedness.

"We’ve had good games. We came to the U.S. to do the work that we wanted to do," Real Madrid assistant coach Aitor Karanka, speaking at the post-game press conference for Mourninho, said.

The most decorated side in both Spanish and European competition, Real Madrid came to the United States and ran roughshod on this competition, entering Philadelphia with identical 5-1 drubbings of the LA Galaxy and AC Milan sandwiched around a 2-1 victory over Mexican side Santos Laguna in Las Vegas.

"We feel pretty comfortable whenever we come [to America]," said Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso.

On foreign soil, matching up against some of the world's biggest and most recognizable stars, the Old Firm side struggled. Support for the green and white in the home of the Philadelphia Eagles was sporadic and fleeting.

Predictably, the crowd of 34,018 leaned heavily in favor of the world-renowned Madridistas, with the largest ovations directed towards star forward Cristiano Ronaldo. Despite a small but fiercely vocal Celtic contingent, the roars anytime this generation’s David Beckham – footballer, celebrity, icon – touched the ball were deafening, and the reverberations of his American stardom could be felt from here to the Santiago Bernabeu.

Both teams had visited the area recently, to a mixed bag of results. In 2010, the Glaswegians were sent home hanging their heads, victims of a 1-0 defeat to the MLS’ Philadelphia Union at PPL Park in Chester, Pa. Los Merengues, who ended arch-rival Barcelona’s three year reign atop La Liga in May, made their triumphant return to Lincoln Financial Field a year after defeating the Union 2-1 on these grounds.

Jose Maria Callejon mirrored his heroics of that match, once again opening the scoring for Madrid. Forward Gonzalo Higuain bore down on goal, and as he made his way through the Celtic defense, the ball was fortuitously dispossessed right toward the trailing Callejon. One move was all it took to beat keeper Lukasz Zaluska, and the 25-year-old winger had earned a 1-0 lead for Los Blancos.

After a dominating first half garnered a mere one-goal lead, Mourninho took advantage of his embarrassment of riches and sent out a markedly different squad, but one with no dip in quality or menace. Off came megastars Ronaldo, Kaka, Higuain, Alonso, Ramos and others – but in their stead, Celtic had to deal with Benzema, Ozil, Di Maria and impregnable All-Everything keeper Iker Casillas.