Real Madrid celebrated a vital win over Viktoria Plzen, but Julen Lopetegui's men delivered another shaky display at the Santiago Bernabeu.
2018/2019 UEFA Champions League
2-1
Match Events
5' OFF THE POST! Ramos almost scores
Madrid win their third corner and Ramos tries his luck for a second time. The centre-back is gifted a free header but his effort bounces off the floor and then the upright before Hruska dives on the rebound.
11' GOAL! Real Madrid 1-0 Viktoria Plzeň (Benzema)
Benzema opens the scoring thanks to a fine header at the far post. The Frenchman stayed onside and peeled away from the last defender before slotting the ball past Hruska.
Vazquez, who is playing at right-back tonight, picks out a perfect cross for Benzema.
33' DISALLOWED GOAL! Bale's shot offside
Kroos splits the Plzen defence with a superb pass and Bale races onto it and fires into the bottom corner. The crowd inside the Santiago Bernabeu go wild but the flag is up for offside.
36' CHANCE! Isco's shot wide out
Hruska has shrugged off that mistake as he makes a sensational one-handed save to deny Isco from a corner.
55' GOAL! Real Madrid 2-0 Viktoria Plzeň (Marcelo)
Marcelo is the man of the moment and he points to the club's crest as he wheels away in delight. The Brazil international worked a one-two on the edge of the box before chipping the ball over Hruska.
Bale caps off a fine performance with an assist after his inside pass carved open the Plzen backline.
69' GREAT CHANCE! Bale's shot wide out
Bale races past two defenders on the edge of the box before curling a shot towards the top corner. He is inches away from finding the net but he continues to get closer.
71' OFFSIDE! Benzema scores but goal is disallowed
Benzema taps in for what he thinks is his second of the evening. However, the linesman claims Modric was offside before he played the cross into the striker.
78' GOAL! Real Madrid 2-1 Viktoria Plzeň (Hrosovsky)
Hrosovsky pulls a goal back for Plzen and it is now 2-1. The Plzen midfielder followed his pass into the box and he was then given the chance to slot past Navas which he took with both hands.
90' Marcelo goes off injured in tears
Match Report
Karim Benzema and Marcelo scored as under-pressure Real Madrid head coach Julen Lopetegui saw his team beat Viktoria Plzen 2-1 for their first win in six.
Lopetegui is rumoured to be on the brink of the sack at the Santiago Bernabeu after a dismal run in all competitions, but there was a timely victory for the reigning Champions League holders on Tuesday, albeit in unconvincing fashion.
While Plzen largely gave as good as they got, the recalled Benzema crucially broke the deadlock, scoring in a 14th consecutive Champions League season with a powerful early header.
A second from Marcelo followed, yet Patrik Hrosovsky pulled a goal back and Barcelona, Madrid's next opponents, would certainly have identified weaknesses ahead of El Clasico, which could have a huge bearing on Lopetegui's future.
Line-ups
Real Madrid XI: Navas; Vazquez, Nacho, Ramos, Marcelo; Modric, Kroos, Casemiro, Isco; Benzema, Bale.
Subs: Courtois, Varane, Mariano, Valverde, Odriozola, Asensio, Vinicius.
Viktoria Plzeň XI: Hruska; Reznik, Hejda, Hubnik, Limbersky; Havel, Prochazka, Cermak, Hrosovsky, Petrzela, Krmencik.
Subs: Kozacik, Horava, Chory, Bucha, Reznicek, Pernica, Ekpai.