Bayer Leverkusen 2 - Real Madrid 3

Real Madrid: Casillas; Michel Salgado, Karanka, Hierro, Roberto Carlos; Figo, Iván Helguera, Flavio Conceiçao (Iván Campo 92'), Solari (Raúl 50'); Guti, Munitis (Sanchis 86'). 4-4-2.

Goals:
1-0. 27. Schneider. Turned on loose ball and shot into corner of net.
1-1. 32. Roberto Carlos. Free kick through defensive wall after Munitis made gap.
2-1. 43. Ballack. First time volley past unsighted keeper after corner headed clear. 2-2. 69. Guti. Left foot low volley after Helguera flicked up Figo's free kick.
2-3. 75. Roberto Carlos. Robbed Nowotny on left, cut in and fired past keeper.

For the fourteenth time of trying, Real Madrid finally won a European match in Germany. It was one of their bête noirs that although they did beat several sides on aggregate, they have only drawn three and lost the rest of the legs played in the country since they first met Munich 1860 in 1966. Their inspiration this time was Roberto Carlos, who scored two fantastic goals to become Madrid's top scorer this season. The Brazilian full back levelled the scores at 1-1 on the half hour with a rocket of a free kick through the defensive wall after Schneider had given Bayer Leverkusen the lead four minutes earlier, and then ran on to take the ball off Nowotny and beat Zuberbuhler from the left wing for the winning goal fifteen minutes from full time.

Del Bosque had been looking for the formula to stop the Bayer luftwaffe type threat from the air, and brought in Hierro to the middle of his defence for his first start of the season, moving Iván Helguera up to midfield to cover for the injured Makelele. Raúl had still not fully recovered from his injury so Guti and Munitis kept their places up front, although the young Spanish striker was on the bench and came on in the second half when he was needed, taking the place of Solari, with Munitis moving out wide on the left wing.

Leverkusen took the lead for the second time through their best player Ballack, who earlier had seen a free kick brilliantly saved by Casillas after it took a deflection off the defensive wall. This time the German midfielder struck from the back of the penalty area, with Madrid guilty of ball watching after they headed clear a corner. Shortly after half time Del Bosque turned to Raúl, and although he had nothing to do with it, Madrid equalised a few minutes later, with Helguera flicking up Figo's free kick and Guti volleying the ball low past the German keeper. Then came the goal from Roberto Carlos, and after Ballack tested Casillas again near the end, Del Bosque killed the remaining few minutes putting on defenders Sanchis and Iván Campo.

And so the ghost was finally laid to rest, and Real Madrid go on to top their group on seven points, with Spartak Moscow second on six, Bayer Leverkusen on three and Sporting Lisbon with one. With two home matches to go out of the three remaining, Madrid should have no trouble going through to the second league phase. They returned home happy, although maybe a little reticent to board their plane following a harrying 3,000 metre free fall drop on the way out after a pressure valve in the cabin blew. The same is not likely to happen in the Champions League however, at least for the time being.