(Football news) Real Madrid needed to beat Celtic in order to secure top spot in their group and they did just that. Los Blancos put in an incredible performance and defeated Celtic 5-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu. As expected Karim Benzema didn't start the game and only came on as a substitute when Real Madrid were leading 4-0. Marco Asensio started for the 2nd UCL game in a row while Antonio Rudiger was benched. Toni Kroos played as a number 6 in the absence of Aurélien Tchouaméni. It was a brilliant performance by Real Madrid who always looked in control of the game. RB Leipzig won their game against Shakhtar Donetsk but still ended up finishing 2nd as Real Madrid topped the group having 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss in the group stage.

Real Madrid scored twice in the first half both from the penalty spot. Both the penalties were given for handball and both were converted, first one by Luka Modric and second one by Rodrygo. Celtic did get an opportunity to pull a goal back after the referee gave them a penalty as Ferland Mendy fouled Leil Abada. The spot kick was a tame effort by Josip Juranovic and Thibaut Courtois pulled off a save. Real Madrid added two more goals in the 2nd half via Marco Asensio and Vinicius Jr. After that Fede Valverde scored one of his trademark long range stunners which he seems to be doing in every game to make it 5-0. Substitute Jota scored a direct freekick in the 84th minute which was nothing more than a consolation. 

Carlo Ancelotti in his post match press conference said that Marco Asensio was the best player on the pitch. The Spaniard had a decent last season where he scored 13 goals. Late last season and this season he fell down the pecking order due to the breakout of Rodrygo and Fede Valverde. Now after a couple of good substitute appearances and two full games against Leipzig and Celtic he seems to be getting Ancelotti's trust back and could become important again. His contract runs out at the end of this season but according to reports Real Madrid want to renew his deal.

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