Real Madrid beats Galaxy 3-1 in Champions Cup

Published Aug. 9, 2013 11:39 a.m. ET

foxsports

Karim Benzema scored two second-half goals to lead Real Madrid to a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Thursday in the preseason Champions Cup friendly tournament.

''In general it was a good performance from the team,'' Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. ''We played well. We had a good combination in the front. We had a lot of opportunities.''

Midfielder Angel DiMaria scored the first goal, taking a pass from Cristiano Ronaldo, who had beaten three defenders.

Ronaldo had multiple chances to score early in the match, hitting the cross bar in the sixth minute.

The fans in the crowd of 38,922 rose to their feet every time Ronaldo touched the ball. The Di Maria-Ronaldo connection almost produced another result in the 38th minute, as Ronaldo had plenty of time to settle a pass at his feet, dribble and shoot. But his shot went over the goal.

''The atmosphere was really fantastic and the stadium was one of the best in the world,'' Ancelotti said. ''We will have a good memory of the experience in the future.''

Ronaldo left the match at halftime, replaced by Benzema. It took the Frenchman only six minutes to score.

Francisco Alarcon looped a pass to Benzema, who was in open space and shot the ball past Galaxy goalkeeper Brian Rowe.

Real Madrid was close to a third goal after some nifty dribbling from Alarcon at the top of the penalty area, but his 60th-minute shot was saved.

Jose Villareal pulled the Galaxy to 2-1 with some skillful work in the 63rd minute. Seconds after Brazilian star Kaka left the match for a substitution, Villareal took two touches to get some room and fired a shot past Real Madrid keeper Diego Lopez.

Di Maria found Benzema in the 74th minute with a cross over the Galaxy defenders for the final goal of the match.