A day after a pair of European giants were slain by underdog teams in the Club World Cup Round of 16, it was time for another pair to face off at Hard Rock Stadium: Real Madrid played Juventus in a much anticipated mid-afternoon matchup with a spot in the quarterfinals on the line.
The “Madrid!” chants began less than a minute after the opening whistle and a sea of white Madridistas and a smaller, but spirited, number of fans wearing Juventus’ black and white vertical stripes filled 62,149 seats on a hot, humid day that began with a deluge.
After a scoreless first half, the crowd was desperate for a goal and got a beautiful one in the 54th minute from Gonzalo Garcia with an uncontested header from six yards after a perfectly placed high cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold. It was the third goal in four Club World Cup games for Garcia, the 21-year-old Spaniard, and the first Madrid assist for Alexander-Arnold since he joined from Liverpool.
That goal was enough for Real Madrid to secure the 1-0 victory.
Madrid dominated all afternoon, and had 11 shots on goal to just two for Juventus. Federico Valverde was named Man of the Match, but Juventus goalkeeper Michele DiGregorio was equally deserving with 10 saves.
Real Madrid will play the winner of Borussia Dortmund vs. Monterrey in the quarterfinals on July 5 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The other quarterfinal matchups are PSG vs. Bayern Munich, Fluminense vs Al-Hilal, and Palmeirias vs. Chelsea.
One of the biggest storylines of Tuesday’s game was the return of Madrid’s French star Kylian Mbappe, who made his tournament debut after missing all three group matches against Al Hilal, Pachuca and RB Salzburg after being diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis on the eve of the tournament.
Mbappe was hospitalized during the opening days of the competition and has been working his way back to game fitness. He began Tuesday’s match on the bench and was greeted with a huge cheer during warmups and then another ovation when he emerged from the tunnel after halftime.
“Mbappe! Mbappe!” the crowd chanted, as the forward warmed up midway through the second half. And then, fans roared when he entered the game in the 68th minute, replacing Garcia.
Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, asked to evaluate Mbappe’s performance, said: “Each day he will get better, I speak to him every day and ask how he is doing. I think he will be much better in three or four days, when we play the quarterfinal.”
Read Madrid’s Starting XI included Thibaut Courtois, Dean Huijsen, Aurelien Tchouameni, Antonio Rudiger, Fran Garcia, Arda Guler, Federico Valverde, Jude Bellingham, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Vinicius Junior, Gonzalo Garcia.
Alonso took over the club less than a month ago, replacing Carlo Ancelotti. He previously coached at Bayer Leverkusen was a standout midfielder with Madrid, Liverpool and Bayern Munich.
“I am happy with Gonzalo and with all our players,” Alonso said. “We have grown as the tournament has gone on. We have been together only a short time, are already competing for important things, and are learning what we need to do to improve. We made some adjustments, the players have understood the changes well.”
Asked what it’s like to have a player like Valverde, Alonso smiled and replied: “He makes my life much easier. He’s a top, complete player who does everything well and leads his teammates with and without the ball.”
Another Real Madrid player in the spotlight Tuesday was midfielder Luka Modric, the Croatian great who turns 40 in September and will leave for AC Milan after the Club World Cup.
Modric started on the bench and fans hoped to get a glimpse of him in one of his last matches in a Madrid jersey. They got their wish in the 78th minute, when he replaced Valverde, who gave Modric the captain’s armband.
Juventus coach Igor Tudor, a former Croatia teammate of Modric’s, remarked: “What can you say about Luka? We have less than 4 million people in Croatia, so a person like him brings a lot of pride for the country. He is a player that you all see, but he is just a normal person. He represents our country in the best possible way. I love him and I hope he will keep having fun, even though he is now 40.”
The starting lineup for the Italian club was: De Gregorio, Lloyd Kelly, Daniele Rugani, Pierre Kalulu, Andrea Cambiaso, Khephren Thuram, Manuel Locatelli, Alberto Costa, Kenan Yildiz, Randal Kolo Muani, and Francisco Conceicao.
“I have to congratulate the lads because they stuck to the game plan we had and followed the strategy,” Tudor said. “They gave their all in the circumstances, in tough conditions, and in the end there were 10 players asking to come off.”
Six of the eight Club World Cup games at Hard Rock stadium drew crowds of more than 60,000, Boca Juniors vs. Benfica drew 55,574 and Mamelodi Sundowns vs. Fluminense drew 14,312.
Alonso was delighted with the large showing of Real Madrid fans, saying “Wherever we go, we feel the love and support of the Madridistas, last week in Charlotte and in Philadelphia, and now in Miami. We want the fans to enjoy our team and we are happy we could deliver the victory.”