Cristiano Ronaldo made his comeback from injury as a substitute but it was Gonzalo Higuain who hogged the headlines again.

By Eugene YS Han

Real Madrid

Iker Casillas: 6
Hardly had any real work to do although that pesky Alphonse kept raining shots at him from distance.

Sergio Ramos: 7
Zurich struggled to keep tabs on him whenever he overlaps

Alvaro Arbeloa: 5
Looked out of sorts at left-back and often found wanting when required to attack.

Raul Albiol: 6
Steady if unspectacular display at the back.

Pepe: 6
Struggled to impose himself in defence. Probably because he had to adapt to another defensive partner.

Marcelo: 7
Had a great chance off a corner in the first-half but his screamer of a shot hit the post. Deserved a goal for his efforts.

Xabi Alonso: 7
Showed great vision and distribution and picked out Marcelo and Ramos numerous times.

L. Diarra: 6
Too similar to Alonso to make any impact.

Kaka: 7
The Brazilian created the all-important goal for Higuain and was influential in the middle of the park for Real. He looks a different class whenever he is on the ball.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH Gonzalo Higuain: 8
Higuain just can't stop scoring. The Argentine is the most in-form player in the Real team and scored the winning goal. He also kept the Zurich defence busy by closing them down. Should be a shoo-in for the El Clasico match against Barcelona on Sunday.

Raul: 5
Looked off the pace and slowed Real's attack down whenever he got the ball. Rightly substituted

Subs:

Rafael van der Vaart: 6
Had a chance to extend Real's lead in the dying minutes of the game but skied the ball. Could have laid it off to an unmarked Higuain.
Cristiano Ronaldo: 6
Also had a half chance when he went clear on the left but his shot was saved.

Esteban Granero: NA

FC  Zurich

Johnny Leoni: 6
Had to be at his best to keep out the Real attack.

Hannu Tihinen: 6
Made several great interceptions to keep the score-line down.

Heinz Barmettler:  5
Had a torrid night trying to contain the lively Higuain.

Xavier Margairaz: 5
Was tasked to drop back whenever Real had the ball so had limited chances to move forward.

Silvan Aegerter: 5
Struggled to close down Kaka and Alonso.

Florian Stahel: 5
Was tormented by Marcelo on the right all match.

Dusan Djuric: 5
He had to keep tabs on overlapping Ramos and thus limited his attacking instincts.

Philippe Koch: 5
Never looked comfortable when trying to contain the overlapping Ramos.

Alain Rochat: 5
Like Aegerter, had to provide defensive cover to their back four but was ultimately unsuccessful.

Milan Gajic: 5
Ineffective, substituted by Vonlanthen.

Alexandre Alphonse: 7
Tested Casillas a couple of times in the first-half. But he ran himself ragged and had to be replaced by Admir Mehmedi in the second half.

Subs:
Johan Vonlanthen: 5

Admir Mehmedi: 5

Marco Schonbachler: NA