Scorers:

Real Madrid: Julio Baptista 13, Raul 15, Robinho 36

Lazio: Goran Pandev 80

Missed penalty: Tommaso Rocchi (90+3)

Halftime: 3-0; Attendance: 75,000

First half goals from Julio Baptista, Raul Gonzalez and Robinho secured the top spot for Real Madrid in the European Champions League Group C with an emphatic 3-1 win over Lazio here on Tuesday.

"I'd seen that Lazio were not the typical Italian side with a very well-ordered defence and that they were much more offensive so I decided to put them under pressure from the start," said Real coach Bernd Schuster.

"We put together some good combinations, scored goals quickly, so the tactic worked," reflected Schuster.
 
The nine-time European champions finished with 11 points from their six group games.

Olympiakos ended their campaign with the same number of points after beating Werder Bremen 3-0 on Tuesday but Real finished in front on the basis of their head-to-head results with the Greek side.

Pole position in their group means that Real will now breath a little easier and avoid former champions Manchester United, AC Milan and Inter Milan, as well as Chelsea, when the draw for the last 16 is made on December 21.

"I don't have any preferences about who we will face in the next round. Every team in the last 16 will be tough but the advantage of finishing first is that we get to play the second game at home," added Schuster.

The victory also preserved Real's 100 per cent home record, both in La Liga and in continental competition, and made it a miserable night for Lazio's veteran goalkeeper Marco Ballotta despite him earning a memorable accolade.

The balding 43-year-old Ballotta, affectionately known as Granddad by the Lazio players and fans, became the oldest player to appear in the Champions League when he started the game against the reigning Spanish champions.

Both teams went close early before Real imposed their control.

Lazio's Tommasso Rocchi produced a defence-splitting pass nine minutes into the game to leave Mourad Maghni with only the Real goalkeper Iker Casillas to beat but the French midfielder hurriedly sent his shot wide from close range.

Seconds later a Raul header from a Wesley Sneijder corner went skimming past the post.

However the capacity 75,000 spectators in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium didn't have to wait much longer for Real to break the deadlock.

After 12 minutes, Robinho found his Brazilian compatriot Julio Baptista in front of the goal just outside the area and the man nicknamed The Beast produced a beautiful right foot shot to find the net from 20 metres.

Real then wrapped up the game as a contest, and their qualification for the last 16, three minutes later when Raul's header was on target this time.

Robinho was once again the service provider, finding the Real club captain with a chip across the area after Sneijder had sent a short corner to his feet.

"Conceding two goals in the first 15 minutes is a blow that it's almost impossible to recover from," admitted Lazio coach Delio Rossi.

Robinho then deservedly got his own name on the score sheet nine minutes before halftime, stabbing the ball in with his left foot from 10 metres out after Ruud van Nistelrooy had almost stumbled over the ball before getting it across to him.

"At the start of the season I thought Robinho had space for improvement and he's proved it, especially in European games, where he's been very impressive," said Schuster.

Ballotta, who had been left as a hostage to fortune by some poor defending and could not be held responsible for the Real goals, then perfromed well to twice stop the hosts going further ahead from Arjen Robben efforts.

Lazio then got a late consolation nine minutes from time when their Macedonian striker Goran Pandev was left unmarked by a Real defence and finished off a Rocchi cross.

Real nearly conceded another goal in injury time when the Swiss referee Massimo Busacca rather questionably judged that their Portuguese defender Pepe had handled the ball in the box.

However Casillas superbly rose to the challenge and stopped Rocchi's penalty.

The Italians ended the night bottom of the group and did not even qualify for the UEFA Cup.


Teams:

Real: 1-Iker Casillas; 4-Sergio Ramos, 5-Fabio Cannavaro, 3-Pepe, 12-Marcelo; 23-Wesley Sneijder (11-Arjen Robben 46), 6-Mahamadou Diarra, 19-Julio Baptista, 10-Robinho (14-Guti 46), 7-Raul, 17-Ruud van Nistelrooy (20-Gonzalo Higuain 73).

Lazio: 32-Marco Ballotta; 6-Lionel Scaloni, 13-Sebastiano Siviglia, 25-Cribari, 29-Lorenzo De Silvestri; 26-Gaby Mudingayi, 24-Cristian Ledesma (10-Roberto Baronio 46), 5-Massimo Mutarelli; 23-Mourad Meghni (68-Christian Manfredini 63); 19-Goran Pandev (20-Stephen Makinwa 82), 18-Tommaso Rocchi.