Real Madrid vs. Galatasaray: What Victory Means for Real Madrid

Real Madrid claimed their seventh-consecutive Santiago Bernabéu Trophy on Wednesday with a 2-1 victory over Galatasaray.

The match was actually more of a test for Real Madrid than many people expected.

Galatasaray opened the scoring only 10 minutes into the contest when midfielder Selçuk İnan scored. This was the first goal that Real Madrid had allowed in a Santiago Bernabéu Trophy match since 2008.

Order was restored when Sergio Ramos tied the game in the 33rd minute. Karim Benzema scored the winning goal early in the second half, giving Real Madrid a 2-1 lead that stood as the final score.

What does the win mean for Real Madrid?

In all honesty, this means very little. It's a small measure of redemption for Real Madrid after losing Supercopa de España to Barcelona last week. 

This is Real Madrid's trophy.

They play in a stadium named after the Santiago Bernabéu, who is probably the most important figure in the history of the club—it's a trophy that they want to win.

Most of their opponents in this two-team tournament have no chance at beating Real Madrid. This was really no different.

This is a match that they had to win as a tune up for the regular season, and they did.

The fact that it wasn't a blowout isn't really a big deal. Sure, they would have liked a three- or four-goal win, but the win is the most important thing.

What does the loss mean for Galatasaray?

This is actually a little different. This was expected to be a blowout win for Real Madrid, and Galatasaray gave them a much better contest than anyone else has in recent years.

If nothing else, this match was a good measuring stick for Galatasaray to see how well they can compete against some of Europe’s best teams.

While they didn’t claim the trophy, they didn’t embarrass themselves either.

Losing is always difficult. Manager Faith Terim said in no uncertain terms that he wanted his team to win, according to Today's Zaman:

"

It is not easy to play against Real Madrid in either an official game or a friendly. But it is good to see Galatasaray at Santiago Bernabeu. Playing in Spain again is an important rendezvous for a team that wants to be remembered again. Even though it is a friendly, it is important for Galatasaray to play well and take this seriously.

"

But that last sentence is what’s important. Did they play well? Yes. Were they taken seriously? Yes.

Why did Real Madrid win?

Frankly, they just had too much firepower for Galatasaray to reasonably be expected to beat them.

Galatasaray got off to a good start, which was important, but they just don’t have the offensive depth to compete with Real Madrid at this time.