Real cruise past Lazio
Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Julio Baptista. Raul and Robinho scored in the first half as Real Madrid secured first place in Group C and a berth in the knockout round of the Champions League with a 3-1 victory over Lazio on Tuesday.

Baptista opened the scoring in the 13th minute, Raul scored two minutes later and Robinho scored in the 36th to give Real a 3-0 lead at halftime.

Goran Pandev scored in the 80th for Lazio, and the Italian club had a chance to make the final minutes interesting but Tommaso Rocchi missed a penalty in the 90th minute.

Lazio finished last in the group and was eliminated from the Champions League.

Real is searching for its 10th Champions League title.

Olympiakos defeated Werder Bremen, 3-0, to stay level on points with Real, but goes through to the knockout stage as the second team in the group.

Werder Bremen squeezed through to the UEFA Cup because of a one-point edge on Lazio for third place.

Former champion FC Porto also won to qualify for the knockout round, and Schalke, Olympiakos and Liverpool grabbed the other spots decided Tuesday.