Gonzalo Garcia’s 54th-minute header earned Real Madrid a 1-0 win over Juventus at Hard Rock Stadium, advancing them to the FIFA Club World Cup quarterfinals.
In the last eight, the Spanish giants will meet the winner of Tuesday’s encounter between Borussia Dortmund and Monterrey from Mexico.
Xabi Alonso’s Madrid team put up a terrific performance, and to top it off, Kylian Mbappe returned from illness, coming on as a 68th-minute replacement for his first appearance of the tournament.
The first half was a well-balanced match, with Igor Tudor’s Juventus starting strongly before Real took the lead late on.
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Juve’s Randal Kolo Muani had an early chance after great work from Kenan Yildiz put him through on goal, but the French attacker opted for an attempted chip of Thibaut Courtois, which went over the bar.
The remarkable Yildiz then sprinted through the middle, unleashing a powerful shot that glanced off Aurelien Tchouameni and sailed wide. Reported By Aljazeera.
The Turin club, who were crushed 5-2 by Manchester City in their last group game, was confidently passing the ball around, but Real came into the game and went near when Jude Bellingham forced a close-range save from Michele Di Gregorio.
Federico Valverde then tested the Juve goalkeeper from long range, and Trent Alexander-Arnold lashed a low pass across the face of goal as Madrid closed out the half strongly.
The interval had no effect on the game’s pace, with Real creating many chances: Bellingham laid off to Valverde, whose brilliantly struck effort went just wide, and Bellingham himself forced another superb save from Di Gregorio with a shot from the edge of the box.
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