NEW YORK, Aug 9, (Agencies): Cristiano Ronaldo scored a pair of second-half goals, and Kaka set up three against his former and perhaps future team as Real Madrid downed AC Milan 5-1 on Wednesday in a friendly at Yankee Stadium.
Angel di Maria put Madrid ahead with a spectacular 25-yard volley in the 24th minute, but Robinho equalized nine minutes later with one of the few shots by Milan, a seven-time European champion depleted by summer departures and retirements.
Ronaldo, the 2008 FIFA Player of the Year, finished crisp passes with quick bursts of speed in the 49th and 66th minutes, the latter off a pass from Kaka. Sergio Ramos made it 4-1 with a header following Kaka’s corner in the 81st and Jose Callejon added the final goal off Kaka’s chip in the 89th.
With top executives from both clubs in New York, there was intrigue involving Kaka, the 2007 FIFA Player of the Year. Milan CEO Adriano Galliani hugged Madrid President Florentino Perez on the field before warmups, then exchanged greetings with Real coach Jose Mourinho. Kaka, now 30, has been a backup at Madrid and appears to desire a return to Italy. He entered in the 62nd minute.
Purchased by Milan from Sao Paulo at age 21 in 2003, Kaka became a star with Milan and scored 95 goals in 269 games over six seasons. Madrid bought him in the summer of 2009 for 65 million euros (then $93.5 million) and he has struggled with injuries since. He has 24 goals in 92 games for Los Blancos.
Los Merengues scored the first goal when Mesut Oezil’s corner kick was punched out by Christian Abbiati straight to Di Maria, whose volley might have grazed the goalkeeper’s fingertips on its way in.
Milan equalized after Antonio Cassano made a quick pass to Antonio Nocerino, who sent a backheel pass to Robinho. He side-footed the ball in from 10 yards, then ran and kissed a fan’s hand in the first row.
Ronaldo, cheered loudly by the crowd of 49,474, gave Madrid a 2-1 lead with a 14-yard shot off a feed from Lass Diarra. Backup Marco Amelia, who entered at the start of the second half, made a diving stop to deny Ronaldo on a long-range shot. On Madrid’s third goal, Gonzalo Higuain passed from the flank to Kaka, who controlled the ball and freed an open Ronaldo for an uncontested shot.
Real Madrid, eliminated by Bayern Munich in last season’s Champions League semifinals, open the La Liga season on Aug 19 at home against Valencia. Milan starts Serie A on Aug 26 at home against promoted Sampdoria.
In Gothenburg, Sweden, Manchester United and Barcelona played out a disappointing 0-0 draw in a pre-season friendly in Gothenburg on Wednesday.
The Catalan side were mostly on top, spurred on by Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta, but created few real goal-scoring opportunities.
The best chance of the match fell to Manchester United with a penalty just before half-time, but Wayne Rooney saw his effort parried by Victor Valdes and he then was well off the target with his follow-up.
The game ended with a brief penalty shoot-out which Barcelona won 2-0.
In New York, calling La Liga the top league in the world, Jose Mourinho predicts a more competitive season as Real Madrid defend their title and Barcelona try to regain the crown.
Los Blancos set Spanish records with 100 points and 121 goals last season, winning by nine points and ending the Catalans’ streak of three straight titles.
“I don’t think the champion will reach 100 points,” the Real Madrid coach said. “I don’t think the champion will score 120 goals. These are numbers to stay in the history for a long time. I don’t think we can do it or Barcelona will do it.”
Calling Real Madrid and Barcelona “the two best teams in the world,” Mourinho said La Liga was now better than England’s Premier League — where he led Chelsea to consecutive league titles in 2005 and 2006.
“The league is very, very strong,” he said of Spain. “A beautiful league, because the teams are very technical, and that’s the reason I’m in Spain, because I want to be where the best league is.”
“Our squad is strong. It’s good. It’s young. And we feel no needs,” Mourinho said.
Paris Saint-Germain have taken over as European football’s big spender, buying forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic and defender Thiago Silva from Milan, forward Ezequiel Lavezzi from Napoli, midfielder Lucas Moura from Sao Paulo and midfielder Marco Verratti from Pescara, all with funds from its new owner, the Qatar Investment Authority.
After he was outbid for Lucas on Wednesday, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson criticized the spending spree, telling his team’s website “when somebody’s paying 45 million euros ($56 million) for a 19-year-old boy, you have to say the game’s gone mad.”
Not so, Mourinho maintained.
“You pay 40 million (euros) to a club, that club is going to spend this 40 million buying two or three players from smaller clubs. The smaller clubs get the money, so somebody has to make the circles go around,” he said. “UEFA is working on what they call the financial fair play, which will be good for a club like Real Madrid because Real Madrid is economically very powerful but doesn’t depend on money not produced by the club. The club by itself produces that money, so Real Madrid will be in a much better position when the financial fair play comes.”
UEFA, European football’s governing body, is phasing in rules that require teams not to spend more than they earn.