David Beckham assured himself of a place in the Real Madrid record books on Wednesday by scoring the club's 600th goal in the European Cup with a trademark free kick in his side's 2-1 victory over Olympique Marseille.
The England captain swept the ball over a wall of defenders and into the top corner in the 35th minute at the Stade Velodrome to score his first Champions League goal in the Real Madrid shirt.
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By coincidence, the former Manchester United midfielder will be honoured by Britain's Queen Elizabeth on Thursday when he collects an OBE at Buckingham Palace.
Real's first goal in the European Cup competition was scored by the late Miguel Munoz against Servette in 1955, the great Alfredo di Stefano notched the 100th in a 1960 semi-final against Barcelona and Hungarian striker Ferenc Puskas brought up the 200th with a goal in the 5-0 thrashing of Feyenoord in 1965.
Marseille fought back after Beckham's goal on Wednesday and pulled level in the second half when former Celta Vigo striker Mido headed in past Iker Casillas, but Real secured the win thanks to a brilliantly crafted goal 17 minutes from time.
Beckham tackled back to win the ball deep inside his own half, clipped the ball up the right wing to Luis Figo, and after a swift exchange of passes between Zinedine Zidane and Raul, Ronaldo was on hand to slot home the winner.
The win effectively guarantees Real of first place in the group ahead of fellow qualifiers Porto, who beat Partizan Belgrade 2-1. As long as Real do not lose by more than two goals against the Portuguese side they will end up as group winners.
"It was a very important win that shows how well we have done in the group," said Real captain Raul. "It is a very difficult ground to play at, but we have come away with three points that practically ensures that we will win the group."
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