There has been a first awakening. Real Madrid has secured its first victory of the ‘Xabi Alonso era’, beating Pachuca of Mexico 3-1 in the second match of this Club World Cup. Jude Bellingham, Arda Güler, and a great Fede Valverde shared the three goals of the match, held at Bank of America Stadium.
Real Madrid thrash Pachuca and top their group
After failing to get past a draw against Al-Hilal, the Whites needed a win to move closer to the round of 16 in this summer tournament. And they did so in style. In fact, this was a must, both in terms of the result and the performance.
And it didn’t start very well, to say the least. In fact, it began with a serious mistake by Raúl Asencio who, for the second game in a row, committed a foul in the area and the referee awarded a penalty, as had happened in the first game against Al Hilal. The difference, in this case, was that the referee not only awarded the penalty against Real Madrid, but also sent off the defender. The Whites were down to one player from the 7th minute of the first half.
However, despite this unpromising start, the team regrouped and came through the match comfortably. At times, Pachuca’s attack caused havoc in the early stages of the game. Salomón Rondón and company put Thibaut Courtois under pressure on a couple of occasions, but nothing that caused the Whites too much concern. Only Montiel’s goal in the 80th minute caused any excitement.
Courtois stopped everything that came his way
After those few chances for the Mexicans, Real Madrid had Courtois in unbeatable form. However, Xabi Alonso’s side took advantage of their first dangerous foray to score. Bellingham opened the scoring with a powerful left-footed shot, and later Arda Güler sealed the second with a right-footed finish. It is worth highlighting the great performance of Gonzalo, who was involved in the build-up to the first goal and provided the assist for the second.
After the opening stages of the second half, Pachuca pressed again, having an extra player, stole possession and began to create dangerous chances, although they once again found themselves up against a great Courtois who stopped everything that came his way. In fact, after blocking everything, his teammates closed out the game. Brahim came up with a great through ball, finding Valverde unmarked, who threw himself forward to send the ball into the back of the net.
On the break, the Spanish side created chances and that led to the third goal of the night. Dean Huijsen played a great pass to Vinicius, who laid the ball off to Fede Valverde in the center of the pitch. The Uruguayan switched the ball to the right, where Brahim Díaz received it, took his time and crossed into the box for the number 8, who only had to tap it in.
The Uruguayan did just that, beating the opposing goalkeeper, sealing the match and forgetting about the mistake against Al Hilal two days ago that cost his team two points. With this victory, Real Madrid moves to the top of Group H, awaiting RB Salzburg, whom they will face next Friday. They are now on track to advance to the round of 16.