Real Madrid 6 - KRC Genk 0

Real Madrid: Casillas; Salgado, Hierro, Iván Helguera, Roberto Carlos (Raúl Bravo 69'); Cambiasso (Morientes 65'), Celades; Figo, Raúl (Portillo 76'), Solari; Guti. 4-2-3-1.
Genk: Moons; Vanbeuren (Seyfo 60'), Tomasic, Zokora, Roumani; Beslija (Suzuki 82'), Wamfor, Skoko, Daerden; Sonck, Dagano (De Camargo 79'). 4-4-2.

Goals:
1-0. 44. Zokora (own goal). Deflected off-target shot from Guti past own keeper.
2-0. 45. Salgado. Shot on the turn after passing move with Figo and Raúl.
3-0. 55. Figo (penalty). After Iván Helguera tripped in area by Vanbeuren.
4-0. 64. Guti. Won ball off Zokora and shot low wide of keeper.
5-0. 73. Celades. Collected pass in by Raúl and volleyed past keeper.
6-0. 75. Raúl. Controlled ball on chest and fired long shot past Moons.

It took Real Madrid a bit of time to get going, but once they started there was no stopping them as they hit Belgian side Genk for six. There was disappointment in the crowd at the absence of Ronaldo, who suffered a slight relapse and who has delayed his debut by a few days, and Zidane, Makele, Flavio and César were also missing through injury. That meant that Celades was given his first start of the season, with Solari keeping his place on the right wing and the on-form Guti keeping out Morientes in the striker position.

The game got off to a slow start, and although Madrid stroked the ball around comfortably, the Belgians looked as if they could catch them out on the counterattack. Dagano in particular looked a threat, although he should have done better when Casillas gifted him the ball from a miskick.

For a short while the crowd started to get a bit restless, but their minds were put at ease a minute before the interval when defender Zokora tried to cut out Guti's off-target shot and only succeeded in turning into his own net. Then before the referee had time to whistle for half time Madrid came forward again, and a short passing move between Figo and Raúl set up Michel Salgado for him to score a rare goal.

Once the floodgates were open, the goals rained in. Figo got the third from the penalty spot after Iván Helguera was tripped by Vanbeuren, and Guti caught the unfortunate Zokora half asleep to run on and make it four.

Del Bosque brought on Morientes for Cambiasso, the crowd giving a standing ovation to both. After the last match at Roma there was some speculation that the manager had not used the striker as he was thinking of selling him in the winter and did not want him to be cup-tied, but his appearance in this game meant that he will almost certainly be staying. The attack continued, with Moons saving from Helguera and Roberto Carlos shooting just wide before being replaced by Raúl Bravo, a player who had played for his country before playing for his club in Europe.

Then Celades joined in the act volleying past Moons after Raúl won the ball on the right and turned it back. Raúl himself made it six in just thirty-two minutes with a long shot after Morientes had made space for him, and seconds later he was substituted to give a run out to under-21 international Portillo, who almost scored himself soon afterwards.

With Genk totally beaten, the last quarter of an hour was just shooting practise for the home team players, but they were unable to add to their tally. As they took their foot off the accelerator though, Sonk and Suzuki both had chances to score a consolation goal, but their efforts went wide. In tennis terms it was a set to love, and with two victories under their belts, Del Bosque's side are already more than halfway through to joining Barcelona and Valencia in the next round.