A Real Madrid blast from the past: Raul and Morientes shine as legends defeat Chelsea

In front of just over 54,000 fans on a hot Sunday night in the Santiago Bernabéu, Real Madrid legends Raul and Fernando Morientes turned back the clock and put on a show for the Madridistas in a 5-4 win against the Chelsea legends.

Despite playing just 80 minutes of football, some of the best retired legends from across the globe made it an unforgettable 10th edition of the Corazón Classic Match. With nine goals split between the Real Madrid and Chelsea legends, there was hardly a dull moment as the likes of Andriy Shevchenko, Guti, Álvaro Arbeloa, Claude Makélélé (who played for both teams), and many more had a great time shutting down the stadium for the remainder of the summer.

After a spectacular entrance from the Spanish Air Force sporting flags of both team and Spain, the match got off to a quick start as it took just a few minutes before Guti and Raul charged forward, linking up nicely with Baptista who was stopped by the Chelsea keeper.

In the 11th minute, it was the captain Raul doing what he does best, hoping on a loose ball, rounding the keeper, and burying the ball in the net.

Just three minutes later, Morientes decided to get in on the action as he was set up perfectly by two incredible passes from Guti and Arbeloa to make it 2-0 to the Royal Whites.

Morientes wasn’t done there as once again, he was set up perfectly, this time by fullback José Amavisca who whipped a picture perfect cross into the box and right on to the head of the waiting number nine.

20 minutes in, the friendly match looked to be turning into a rout, however, a tough tackle in the box by Real Madrid awarded Chelsea and Shevchenko a chance to get on the board and the famous Ukrainian forward made no mistake burying the penalty in the bottom corner.

A minute later, Gus Poyet scored The Blues’ second of the match to make it 3-2 before the half hour mark.

The goal of the match came from midfielder Christian Karembeu – who looked a lot like Marcelo with his hair from a distance – as he blasted a shot from well outside the box into the bottom corner to put Real Madrid back up by two goals.

The action did not slow in the second half as William Gallas made a wonderful run down the right wing and fired a shot across goal into the top corner to give Chelsea life again.

That hope was soon dashed as Raul made it two on the night from the penalty spot, slotting home Los Blancos’ fifth goal with ease.

A consolation goal from Florent Malouda in the 65th minute did make things interesting over the final 10 minutes, but Real Madrid played sound defense and actually had the better chances in those dying moments as Edwin Congo and Javier Balboa came within inches of scoring on multiple occasions.

All in all, it was an incredible night for the fans and former players for a great cause. Raul, Morientes, and Makélélé all looked like they could step back on the pitch with the first team if they were called upon.

With the final whistle, we now must wait until late July to see a Real Madrid take the pitch again. Let the countdown to the preseason begin!

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