Benzema sets Real on way to latest rout

Mark Staniforth

JOSE MOURINHO'S Real Madrid continued their remarkable run of goalscoring form as they crushed Lyon 4-0 in UEFA Champions League Group D to make qualification from the group stage a mere formality.

Real's third straight win in the group leaves them five points clear with just half the games played. It also takes to 20 the number of goals Mourinho's men have scored in their last five European and domestic matches.

Karim Benzema (pictured above) opened the scoring in the 19th minute and a burst after the break put paid to the French side's chances of clawing back into the game, with further goals coming from Sami Khedira, a Hugo Lloris own goal and Sergio Ramos.

Also in Group D, Ajax moved level with Lyon in second place with a 2-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia, Derk Boerrigter and Christian Eriksen striking in the second half.

Bayern looked set to make it three Group A wins in a row when Toni Kroos put them ahead in the second minute at the Stadio San Paolo, but Holger Batstuber's 39th-minute own goal gave Napoli a draw.

Claudio Ranieri's Inter Milan made light of their poor Serie A form to move to top of Group B with a 1-0 win over Lille in France.

Inter slumped to 17th in the table after defeat at Catania at the weekend, but Giampaolo Pazzini's (pictured left) 21st-minute goal was enough for them to take pole position after previous leaders Trabzonspor were thumped by CSKA in Moscow.

The Russians, who started the night bottom of the group with a single point to their name, took a 29th-minute lead through Seydou Doumbia, and late goals from Aleksandrs Cauna and Doumbia again sealed a 3-0 win.

Benfica moved two points clear at the top of the group as Bruno Cesar and Oscar Cardozo both scored for the Portuguese giants in an impressive 2-0 win over Basle in Switzerland.