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Real Madrid 5 - 3 Al Hilal (Vinicius x2, Benzema, Valverde x2; Marega, Vietto x2). Here’s our quick reaction. Still to come: Player ratings, post-game podcast, post-game quotes, stats breakdown, and much more.
Real Madrid are champions of the world for the fifth time in their history, and many of today’s players — Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Dani Carvajal, Nacho Fernandez — are five-time winners themselves.
As Real Madrid ran up the goals against Al Hilal in tonight’s Club World Cup final in Morocco, they received a nice boost of confidence for their attacking line. Fede Valverde and Vinicius Jr scored a brace, while Karim Benzema scored a needed goal too. The trio also combined for seven key passes and two assists.
All the goals that Real Madrid scored were beautiful. The fan favourite must’ve been Benzema’s goal, where Vinicius Jr found the Frenchman with a mind-blowing trivela pass:
Karim Benzema y va de son but pour cette finale ! ⚽️
— CANAL+ Foot (@CanalplusFoot) February 11, 2023
3⃣-1⃣ pour le Real Madrid ⚪️ pic.twitter.com/oYHZ4EX4H6
Real Madrid had over 65% possession and double the amount of shots as their opponent. Al Hilal’s defense was very loose between the lines, and for the majority of the game Real Madrid’s attackers ran freely in the attacking third — getting to their spots and knocking the ball around with ease.
But make no mistake, as good as Carlo Ancelotti’s men played offensively, their high line was vulnerable. They conceded three goals, through a combination of counter-attacks, passes in behind the half-space where Camavinga was, and runs behind Rudiger. Vietto’s first goal was an example of where Real Madrid got hurt:
⚽️ ¡Descuenta Al Hilal! Buena definición de Luciano Vietto para que Real Madrid ahora gane, pero 4-2 en la final del #MundialDeClubesEnDSPORTS.
— DSports (@DSports) February 11, 2023
️ @GustavoKuffner - @fabig08 pic.twitter.com/m4oWg7OyTO
Real Madrid’s defending wasn’t great:
It has got to be said, we have defended atrociously this match.
— Managing Madrid (@managingmadrid) February 11, 2023
This game could be 5-5 on another day
Nevertheless, Real Madrid came away as deserved winners. We’ll break this down in much more detail in the coming hours.
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