• Real Madrid 3-1 Chelsea
José Mourinho could only stand and watch yet he must have feared this would happen.
Coming face to face with Real Madrid less than three months after a bitter and acrimonious departure from the Bernabeu was always going to be difficult.
The fact that Cristiano Ronaldo, who he had mocked earlier this week by insisting the 'the real Ronaldo' was in fact the legendary Brazilian forward, emerged as the match-winner stung even more.
This was Ronaldo at his effervescent, brilliant, best. And how he made Mourinho pay. A stunning free-kick followed by a brilliant run and headed finish was enough to dent his former manager's 100% pre-season record and remind him of the masterful player he's left behind.
Chelsea were only intermittently in this match, lacking a killer touch in attack which is why the pursuit of Wayne Rooney will continue until the bitter end. Ultimately though they were undone by the magic of Ronaldo.
More meaningful tests, starting with Hull in the Premier League on 18 August, await yet this was a chastening evening for the Stamford Bridge manager. Mourinho certainly set his stall out to win. Romelu Lukaku was preferred to Fernando Torres in an attack which was supplemented with a three pronged creative axis of Oscar, Eden Hazard and Frank Lampard, starting his first match of this four game tour after overcoming an achilles problem.
Ronaldo, Luka Modric and Mesut Ozil all wore the famous white of Real to give this final match of the inaugural International Champions Cup the feel of a proper match between two of Europe's leading lights.
The less said about the crazed pre-kick off light show which attempted to turn the Sun Life Stadium into an odd football-themed rave, the better.
Finally a match broke out – and Madrid started strongly, Karim Benzema forcing Petr Cech to tip past the post with just two minutes on the clock. Ronaldo was up to plenty of his old tricks – outrageous step-overs followed by suspect collapses to the ground. But his quality with the ball at his feet is there for all to see.
Yet there was no real magic needed when Marcelo slotted the Spaniards into the lead. Modric's poked through ball bypassed Ramires and saw the defender waltz towards goal. His finish was calm and clinical.
But Ramires, instantly making up for his earlier indiscretion, out did his compatriot with a cooly-taken strike just two minutes later, sweetly dinking the ball over Iker Casillas following a burst through the Madrid defence.The equaliser had galvanised the Premier League side who began to cause Madrid problems all over the pitch.
Ronaldo was not finished though, and after he won a free-kick following a Branislav Ivanovic challenge which sparked pushing and shoving between the two sides, with John Terry leading the charge, the Portuguese stepped up to curl a trademark free-kick past Cech's despairing hand.
The cheeky wink and knowing smile on Ronaldo's face must have sent a shudder down Mourinho's spine. With the Miami humidity difficult to deal with at the best of times, tempers were frayed. Lampard was booked for a lunge on Modric while sniping and snarling at the officials was a constant theme.
Chelsea enjoyed a fair share of possession. The problem was that they did little with it. In fact, it wasn't until the stroke of the interval that another opportunity presented itself only for Lampard's inability to divert the ball home following good work from the Belgian duo of Hazard and Lukaku.
The Chelsea manager began to shuffle his pack at the interval with Kevin De Bruyne and Victor Moses replacing Lampard and Oscar. On 52 minutes, his side should have drawn level once more. Ramires's through ball to Hazard was weighted to perfection but Casillas superbly raced off his line to avert the danger.
It was a costly miss because six minutes later, Ronaldo headed in his second. The former Manchester United winger timed his run to perfection to powerfully plant Isco's cross past Cech. The real Ronaldo really had stood up, leaving Mourinho and Chelsea firmly in his wake. Reported by guardian.co.uk 6 hours ago.
José Mourinho could only stand and watch yet he must have feared this would happen.
Coming face to face with Real Madrid less than three months after a bitter and acrimonious departure from the Bernabeu was always going to be difficult.
The fact that Cristiano Ronaldo, who he had mocked earlier this week by insisting the 'the real Ronaldo' was in fact the legendary Brazilian forward, emerged as the match-winner stung even more.
This was Ronaldo at his effervescent, brilliant, best. And how he made Mourinho pay. A stunning free-kick followed by a brilliant run and headed finish was enough to dent his former manager's 100% pre-season record and remind him of the masterful player he's left behind.
Chelsea were only intermittently in this match, lacking a killer touch in attack which is why the pursuit of Wayne Rooney will continue until the bitter end. Ultimately though they were undone by the magic of Ronaldo.
More meaningful tests, starting with Hull in the Premier League on 18 August, await yet this was a chastening evening for the Stamford Bridge manager. Mourinho certainly set his stall out to win. Romelu Lukaku was preferred to Fernando Torres in an attack which was supplemented with a three pronged creative axis of Oscar, Eden Hazard and Frank Lampard, starting his first match of this four game tour after overcoming an achilles problem.
Ronaldo, Luka Modric and Mesut Ozil all wore the famous white of Real to give this final match of the inaugural International Champions Cup the feel of a proper match between two of Europe's leading lights.
The less said about the crazed pre-kick off light show which attempted to turn the Sun Life Stadium into an odd football-themed rave, the better.
Finally a match broke out – and Madrid started strongly, Karim Benzema forcing Petr Cech to tip past the post with just two minutes on the clock. Ronaldo was up to plenty of his old tricks – outrageous step-overs followed by suspect collapses to the ground. But his quality with the ball at his feet is there for all to see.
Yet there was no real magic needed when Marcelo slotted the Spaniards into the lead. Modric's poked through ball bypassed Ramires and saw the defender waltz towards goal. His finish was calm and clinical.
But Ramires, instantly making up for his earlier indiscretion, out did his compatriot with a cooly-taken strike just two minutes later, sweetly dinking the ball over Iker Casillas following a burst through the Madrid defence.The equaliser had galvanised the Premier League side who began to cause Madrid problems all over the pitch.
Ronaldo was not finished though, and after he won a free-kick following a Branislav Ivanovic challenge which sparked pushing and shoving between the two sides, with John Terry leading the charge, the Portuguese stepped up to curl a trademark free-kick past Cech's despairing hand.
The cheeky wink and knowing smile on Ronaldo's face must have sent a shudder down Mourinho's spine. With the Miami humidity difficult to deal with at the best of times, tempers were frayed. Lampard was booked for a lunge on Modric while sniping and snarling at the officials was a constant theme.
Chelsea enjoyed a fair share of possession. The problem was that they did little with it. In fact, it wasn't until the stroke of the interval that another opportunity presented itself only for Lampard's inability to divert the ball home following good work from the Belgian duo of Hazard and Lukaku.
The Chelsea manager began to shuffle his pack at the interval with Kevin De Bruyne and Victor Moses replacing Lampard and Oscar. On 52 minutes, his side should have drawn level once more. Ramires's through ball to Hazard was weighted to perfection but Casillas superbly raced off his line to avert the danger.
It was a costly miss because six minutes later, Ronaldo headed in his second. The former Manchester United winger timed his run to perfection to powerfully plant Isco's cross past Cech. The real Ronaldo really had stood up, leaving Mourinho and Chelsea firmly in his wake. Reported by guardian.co.uk 6 hours ago.