Robinho repays Schuster

Robinho repaid the faith shown in him by Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster by scoring two crucial second half goals as the Spanish giants edged past 10-man Olympiakos 4-2 in the Champions League here on Wednesday. Robinho has persistently linked with a move away, and told he had his final chance.

"He's a player who knows how to win games. I'm not going to go back to the other subject. He started hesitantly but after he got his first goal, he was outstanding, playing with much more confidence," said the Real Madrid boss.

The victory takes Real Madrid back to the top of the Champions League Group C with seven points from their three games and retains their 100 per cent home record, both in La Liga and in continental competition.

"These were three important points. It makes life a lot less difficult in qualifying for the next round," added a clearly relieved Schuster.

"We suffered. I wasn't happy with the way we started but we showed our character and the players got the fruits of all their hard work."

Real wasted little time in drawing first blood, with club captain Raul finding the net in under two minutes.

Slack defending left Ruud van Nistelrooy with the space to have a clear shot and although the Olympiakos goalkeeper Antonios Nikopolidis managed to charge down the Dutch striker's shot, the ball fell straight to the feet of Raul.

However, Real were left to regret their over-confidence after taking an early lead.

Olympiakos equalized just five minutes later when former Atletico Madrid midfielder Luciano Galletti was left free to slot home a left foot shot from almost exactly on the penalty spot.

The Greek visitors then stunned the 50,000 Real supporters in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium by taking the lead less than two minutes after the break.

Julio Cesar, who got a Champions League winners medal with Real in 2000, showed his old club he can still turn on the style by breaking free of his marker before pushing the ball past Real goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

Real immediately turned up the pressure in a bid to get an equaliser but had to wait until the 67th minute when Sergio Ramos' pass from the right wing found Robinho clear at the far post after 67 minutes and the Brazilian's deft low header just sneaked past Nikopolidis.

However, Robinho finally put Real into the lead after 83 minutes when he finished off an inch-perfect pass from van Nistelrooy.

Javier Balboa then added Real's fourth goal two minutes into injury time, the Spanish-born Equatorial Guinea international's first strike in the Champions League.