REAL AWAKENING GALAXY NO MATCH FOR SPANISH POWER REAL MADRID 2, GALAXY 0.

Byline: Scott French Staff Writer

CARSON - On the eve of his team's Southern California debut, Real Madrid's Brazilian coach, Vanderlei Luxemburgo, was asked if he could name even one Galaxy player.

Luxemburgo, a former Brazil national team coach well-versed in soccer around the globe, looked perplexed.

Finally, he spoke.

``I always like to talk about teams ...,'' he started. ``We respect the Galaxy.''

So, uh ... no.

On Monday night, in a jam-packed Home Depot Center, there wasn't a whole lot of reason to know Galaxy individuals. Real Madrid, making the second stop of an Amerasian tour meant to spread the gospel of the world's most successful club, toyed with the home team, putting on a scintillating show in a 2-0 triumph that was nowhere near as close as the score might suggest.

The Galaxy's goal was to demonstrate the gap separating it from the world's best isn't as vast as believed, but the difference between the teams was enormous - and evident almost from the opening whistle.

A Real starting lineup featuring most of the club's giant names - everyone, really except Ronaldo and Luis Figo - withstood an early Galaxy assault, then took charge, spreading the ball around the field in pretty patterns that drew gasps from a crowd announced as 27,000 but surely far larger.

French playmaker Zinedine Zidane, the greatest of Real's collection of soccer royalty, was the conductor, maneuvering through traffic with touches almost beyond comprehension, opening space with deft passes and creating chances with sophisticated runs. He engineered the first goal, by Michael Owen, just six minutes in.

It started with a long pass from Guti to Zidane, who turned and ran toward the Galaxy box, played a quick give- and-go with Owen to maneuver past defender Ugo Ihemelu at the semicircle, then stepped to his right to elude Chris Albright, chipping the ball ahead.

Owen ran onto it and chipped it over sliding goalkeeper Kevin Hartman and into the left-side netting, eliciting wild cheers - from Galaxy and Real fans alike.

Real dictated terms throughout the first half and was unfortunate not to have three, or more, goals by halftime. Gorgeous interplay among Zidane, deputies Guti and Thomas Gravesen, Owen and David Beckham on the right and wing-back Roberto Carlos on the left led to a flurry of chances but nothing more.

Beckham and Owen fired wide left from distance, and Hartman came up with three big stops in succession a little more than a half-hour into the game, parrying a 30-yard blast by Roberto Carlos and Francisco Pavon's header from the ensuing corner kick and taking the ball off Zidane's feet after the Frenchman split Ihemelu and Tyrone Marshall.

The Galaxy clearly missed the one player Luxemburgo might have known, Landon Donovan, who is with the U.S. national team preparing for Thursday's CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal against Honduras. Without Donovan, L.A. seemed to lack a core, and when it advanced to the Real box, it struggled to connect. Its touches were often poor, its decisions worse, and Real's backline - not as impressive as its attack - had little trouble protecting goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

Zidane and Beckham, increasingly slowed by a hamstring injury, departed to thunderous applause in the 61st minute, with Figo finally coming on. (Ronaldo, sadly, was kept on the bench.) The Portuguese star, apparently on his way to Inter Milan, set up the second goal, a 22-yard Roberto Saldado to the lower-left in the 75th minute.

Figo might have had one of his own, from Raul's through ball seven minutes earlier, but Hartman made the stop, then took the ball from Owen on the rebound.

Scott French, [phone]

scott.french(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Above, Real Madrid's Michael Owen (11) is congratulated by teammates David Beckham, center, and Raul after his first-half goal, which he got past a sliding Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, left.

Photos by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images and Jae C. Hong, Associated Press

(3 -- 4) At top, Real Madrid's Jose Maria Gutierrez, left, tumbles over the Galaxy's Cobi Jones, bottom, as Ugo Ihemelu looks on. Above, Real Madrid teammates celebrate the first-half goal by Michael Owen, middle.

GettyImages