Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe, center, lifts the trophy after winning the Intercontinental Cup soccer final match against CF Pachuca at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar. | Photo Credit: AP
Real Madrid won the Intercontinental Cup after beating Mexico's Pachuca 3-0 in a largely one-sided final on Wednesday (December 18, 2024), with Kylian Mbappe, Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr all on target.
Real did just enough to win comfortably and never looked likely to cede control despite allowing the CONCACAF champions to threaten occasionally from counter-attacks at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar.
The Champions League winners opened the scoring in the 37th minute with a fine team goal that started with Jude Bellingham passing to Vinicius Jr, who ran past the goalkeeper before putting it on a plate for Mbappe, who tapped it into the empty net.
Rodrygo extended their lead with a lovely effort in the 52nd minute when he beat two defenders before cutting back inside and curling a fine strike into the top corner with his right foot.
Vinicius Jr wrapped up an easy win for Real from the penalty spot in the 83rd minute after Oussama Idrissi fouled captain Lucas Vazquez inside the box.
Having won three trophies in the original Intercontinental Cup, the predecessor to the current format that pitched the European and South American champions against each other, and five Club World Cups, Real have now won a combined total of nine global titles.
"We are very happy for another title," Rodrygo told Spanish television channel Telecinco.
"I was a bit anxious with the goal because Jude (Bellingham) was in front of the goalkeeper but he doesn't interfere with the play, so I'm happy to help the team.
"Vinicius is great, he is playing really well right now and we are pleased to have him with us. We have a great team and we are delighted."
Pachuca threatened with early strikes by Oussama Idrissi, Luis Rodriguez and Elias Montiel denied by keeper Thibaut Courtois, yet Real slowly started to take control of proceedings with Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo running the channels and Bellingham feeding both with dangerous passes into space.
Rodrygo and Bellingham had two great chances to score before Mbappe gave them the lead and Pachuca were lucky to go in at the break not losing by a wider margin as Real piled on the pressure.
After Rodrygo curled home Real's second goal seven minutes into the second half, manager Carlo Ancelotti made several changes.
His side then wasted several opportunities before Vazquez appealed for a foul inside the box that the referee didn't initially spot, but awarded a penalty after checking the VAR replay.
Vinicius's spot-kick was low to the right and goalkeeper Carlos Moreno got a hand on it, but it wasn't enough to keep it out from finding the back of the net.
Published \- December 19, 2024 02:43 am IST