TNT Sports
Monaco knock out Real
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Published 06/04/2004 at 17:13 GMT+1
Monaco have created one of the greatest shocks in European football history by knocking Real Madrid out of the Champions League. A 3-1 victory on Wednesday saw Didier Deschamps' side through on the away goals rule after the first leg finished 4-2 to Real.
Eurosport
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Carlos Queiroz's team, playing without suspended midfielder David Beckham, enjoyed most of the possession at the start and Ronaldo missed an 11th-minute chance from a cross by fellow Brazilian Roberto Carlos.
Five minutes later Frenchman Zinedine Zidane's chip was kept out only by a fine save from Monaco keeper Flavio Roma.
At the other end Giuly failed to convert a perfect cross from Jerome Rothen as the hosts, who abandoned their usual defensive midfield formation, started to flex their muscles.
The Real rearguard was repeatedly outpaced by Dado Prso and Morientes, who scored Monaco's vital second goal late on at the Bernabeu a fortnight ago against his employers, stung Iker Casillas's fingers with a fierce drive on the half hour.
Ten minutes before the interval, though, Raul opened the scoring for Real when he picked his spot from 15 metres out after a neat dummy by Guti.
Monaco grabbed a lifeline seconds before halftime when Giuly volleyed home a low shot after Morientes had diverted a Patrice Evra cross into his path.
Three minutes after the interval Spain striker Morientes gave real hope to the principality team when he rose superbly to head home a cross by Evra.
Real's confidence deserted them and Monaco poured forward, dramatically turning the tie on its head after 66 minutes when Giuly cleverly flicked a cross by Hugo Ibarra past Casillas with his trailing leg.
Raul thought he had saved Real with a second goal but his header was flagged offside and as the minutes ticked down Monaco looked the more likely to score again.
Substitute Shabani Nonda hit the goal frame with a header and a fierce shot as Monaco sealed a place in the semi-finals of Europe's elite club competition for the third time in fine style.
MORIENTES: 'WE DESERVED IT'
"The players are writing a beautiful page of the club's history and also of French football history," said Deschamps, who captained France to world and European titles. "It is an outstanding achievement."
Morientes, who also scored in the first leg to make Real wonder just why they allowed him to play against them, told Spain's Radio Marca: "This is an historic achievement for the club, but we must not just stop at this as we can go a lot further.
"It was a superb game, we created plenty of chances, scored three good goals and deserved the win."
Queiroz said: "This is a very painful result for the whole team. The players are very down, especially considering we went 1-0 up.
"But we have to accept the result because they scored three goals and I think the Morientes goal was crucial because it gave them confidence to go on."
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