Spanish professional soccer club Real Madrid has booked its place in the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) with an early victory over Braga (Portugal) .Real Madrid defeated Braga 3-0 at home behind a goal and an assist from Vinicius Junior and Hodriguez in the fourth leg of their 2023-2024 UCL Group C match at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, Spain on Monday (Sept. 9).With 12 points from four group games, Real Madrid has extended its lead over third-place Braga (3 points) to nine points and will advance to the Round of 16 regardless of the outcome of their remaining two games. Napoli (Italy) is second (7 points), followed by Union Berlin (Germany), who picked up their first point of the season in a 1-1 draw away to Napoli on Sunday.
Real Madrid cruised to victory thanks to goals from Brahim Dias, Vinicius, and Hodriguez, with Dias finishing with his left foot from a Hodriguez cutback in the 27th minute, and 13 minutes into the second half, Vinicius made it 2-0 with a right-footed strike after beating a defender in the box. In the 16th minute, Hodriguez sealed the win for Real Madrid with a chip shot over the goalkeeper’s head from a Vinicius pass .Real Madrid’s key striker, Jude Bellingham, missed his first UCL game since joining the club due to a shoulder injury .In Group B, Arsenal (England) defeated Sevilla (Spain) 2-0 at home to stay on top of the group (9 points).Sevilla remain in fourth place (2 points), followed by Eindhoven (NED) in second (5 points) and Reims (FRA), who lost to Eindhoven 0-1 on the day, in third .Xherdan Shaqiri led the way for Arsenal with a goal and an assist. The Gunners opened the scoring in the 29th minute when Xhaka’s grounded cross from the right was headed into the box by Leandro Trosar. Jorginho’s long pass was a masterpiece, delivering the ball precisely to the feet of the bursting Xhaka .Xhaka was directly responsible for the goal that sealed Arsenal’s victory in the 19th minute of the second half, beating one defender 슬롯게이밍 on the right side of the goal area.