Vinicius Junior scored one goal and made another with a touch of class as Real Madrid sealed their place in the last 16 of the Club World Cup with a 3-0 win over Salzburg on Thursday.
The Brazil star opened the scoring after a superb defence-splitting pass by Jude Bellingham on 40 minutes and then set up Federico Valverde for the all-important second goal in first-half stoppage time.
Gonzalo Garcia wrapped up the win late on with his second goal of the tournament, and the result means Xabi Alonso’s team end the first round of FIFA’s new tournament unbeaten.
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They go through to the knockout stage as Group H winners on seven points, setting up a last-16 tie against Juventus in Miami on Tuesday.
Salzburg go out as Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia progress in second place behind Real after defeating already eliminated Pachuca of Mexico 2-0 in Nashville.
They play Manchester City in the last 16.
Madrid are adjusting in the United States to life under new coach Alonso and were again without top scorer Kylian Mbappe, with the Frenchman thus far not having played at the Club World Cup as he recovers from illness.
But there was still plenty of star appeal for the 64,811 fans who filled Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia almost to capacity — they reserved their loudest cheers for Bellingham and spirits were not dampened by wet, fresh conditions as the blistering heatwave of recent days suddenly lifted.
– Alonso opts for back three –
Alonso opted, as during his time in charge of Bayer Leverkusen in Germany, for a back three with Aurelien Tchouameni in between Antonio Rudiger and Dean Huijsen. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Fran Garcia played as wing-backs.
Real won 5-1 when the teams met in the Champions League in January with Vinicius scoring twice, and the Brazilian was again heavily involved in putting the Austrian team to the sword here.
He was denied by goalkeeper Christian Zawieschitzky when clean through on 20 minutes, but made up for that by getting the breakthrough as the interval approached.
The goal owed much to a fantastic pass by Bellingham which found Vinicius in between the two Salzburg centre-backs. He held off two chasing defenders and scored with an early left-foot shot low into the corner.
It was a 22nd goal of the season in all competitions and one that delighted those backing Real in the crowd.
Petar Ratkov had a chance for Salzburg after Arda Guler was dispossessed just outside his own area, but Real scored again to make it 2-0 almost on the half-time whistle.
When a rather aimless pass forward by Guler was deflected by Salzburg’s Mamady Diambou, Vinicius pounced on the loose ball and continued into the area before producing a clever backheel to set up Valverde for the goal.
Salzburg now needed a favour from Al Hilal to stay in the competition although they did continue to make a fight of it and had chances to reduce the deficit in the second half.
Nevertheless they were picked off on the counter as Madrid got their third with six minutes of the 90 remaining.
A ball forward by Alexander-Arnold should have been cut out by Joane Gadou but the young defender’s touch was intercepted by Gonzalo Garcia and the young forward ran through before clipping a shot beyond the goalkeeper.
SLICK CITY MAKE BIG STATEMENT
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City demonstrated their Club World Cup credentials with an impressive 5-2 victory over Juventus on Thursday in Orlando to claim top spot in Group G.
Al Ain battled to a 2-1 win over Wydad Casablanca in the other match in the group, although both sides were already eliminated.
Later Thursday Spanish giants Real Madrid are aiming to seal progress to the last 16 when they take on Austrian side RB Salzburg in Group H, knowing a victory will earn them a tie against runners-up Juventus.
Man City became the only side to win all three of their group matches as they put Juventus to the sword in front of 54,000 at the Camping World Stadium.
“We played well and I’m happy with the victory,” said City winger Doku, who opened the scoring.
“We’re playing to win (the tournament, but) we go game by game and we’re just curious to see who we’re going to play against.” Doku pounced after new arrival Rayan Ait-Nouri set him up with a clever ball. However City stopper Ederson passed the ball straight to Teun Koopmeiners who levelled for Juventus, in one of the few moments Guardiola’s team let their focus slip.
Pierre Kalulu bundled into his own net from Matheus Nunes’ cross to restore City’s lead.
The Premier League side, hoping to make up for a poor season by their standards in which they finished without a major trophy, stepped up a level after the break with Erling Haaland’s introduction.
The Norwegian striker tapped home the third and then helped create the fourth for Phil Foden, before Savinho smashed home from distance for the fifth.
Dusan Vlahovic netted late on for Juve but it did not take the shine off an impressive triumph for City, who were able to give holding midfielder Rodri Hernandez a first start after his long injury lay-off.
“Manchester City have a lot better (quality of) players than us, that’s the truth, that needs to be acknowledged,” said Juventus coach Igor Tudor.
“The stars didn’t align for us to play better tonight.”
Although both Al Ain and Wydad Casablanca were already eliminated, both battled hard to finish on a high note.
Moroccan side Wydad have enjoyed strong support at the tournament and delighted their fans with a fourth minute opener.
South African striker Cassius Mailula blasted home at the near post to put them in front at Audi Field in Washington, DC.
Togo international Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba levelled from the spot just before the break for Al Ain, with their first goal of the tournament after 5-0 and 6-0 thrashings by Juve and Man City respectively.
Paraguayan international Alejandro Romero curled home from the edge of the box to earn the team from the United Arab Emirates victory.
“I’m so happy for scoring and helping my teammates… it’s been a good experience, a difficult group, but competing until the end is good for Al Ain,” said Romero.
– No Mbappe yet –
Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid face Salzburg in Philadelphia in the Spaniard’s third match at the helm, knowing victory will help them swerve Guardiola’s ominous City.
Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal, third, still have a chance of qualifying too if they beat eliminated Pachuca in the other Group H clash.
Should they triumph and either Madrid or Salzburg win as well, Al-Hilal will go through second.
If Madrid and Salzburg draw and the Saudi side win, all three teams will be level on five points and different outcomes are possible depending on the final score in Philadelphia.
Real Madrid are still without French superstar striker Kylian Mbappe, although he is on the mend after a stomach bug.
The forward was not included in the squad for the game despite returning to training on Wednesday.
“He’s doing well, but not enough to play tomorrow with the level that we need,” said Alonso on the eve of the game.
“He said it himself when we spoke after training, he prefers to be ready for the last 16.”