Real Madrid eliminated Juventus from the Round of 16 of the FIFA Club World Cup with a 1-0 win.
Los Blancos reach the quarter-finals, where they will go on to face Borussia Dortmund.
The match confirmed that I Bianconeri will need to make some remarkable adjustments in their squad during this transfer market in order to compete seriously for the top spots and avoid having a negative season.
For Real Madrid, it is safe to say that Xabi Alonso has already started working seriously with the group and has succeeded in organising the team in the way he likes while progressively implementing his preferred tactics.
The FIFA Club World Cup was the perfect occasion for Alonso to test the players and experiment with his preferred tactics with the actual players at his disposal.
Of course, experimenting and building while winning matches and advancing in an international competition is always better than experimenting while the atmosphere is less motivating.
In this tactical analysis article on the Round of 16 game between Real Madrid and Juventus, we will assess Alonso’s sides performance and tactics.
The analysis will also explore Juventus’ flaws and weaknesses.
Real Madrid Vs Juventus Lineups
Real Madrid started the match in a 3-5-2 formation with Thibaut Courtois in goal, Dean Huijsen, Aurélien Tchouaméni and Antonio Rüdiger as centre-backs, Fran García as a left wing-back, and Trent Alexander-Arnold as a right wing-back.
Federico Valverde, Arda Güler, and Jude Bellingham formed the midfield trio, while Vinícius Júnior and Gonzalo García formed the attacking duo.
Vinícius often leant towards the left wing, while García was more of a centre-forward.
It is also important to note that there were numerous positional switches during the game.
Bellingham and Güler were allowed to advance so often and exchange their positions, while Alexander-Arnold had the freedom to cover the right wing and create.
On the other hand, Tudor opted for the 3-4-2-1 formation with Michele Di Gregorio as a goalkeeper, Pierre Kalulu, Daniele Rugani and Lloyd Kelly as centre-backs, Manuel Locatelli and Khéphren Thuram as central midfielders, Alberto Costa as a right wing-back, and Andrea Cambiaso as a left wing-back.
In attack, Tudor used Francisco Conceição on the right wing and Kenan Yıldız on the left wing, with the instruction for both of them to play centrally as often as possible, making them become advanced playmakers.
The decision to substitute Filip Kostić and Teun Koopmeiners for Conceição and Yıldız was not the perfect choice to make in this match, as Yıldız and Conceição were the ones creating danger and could have done more to score the equaliser if they were kept on the field, knowing that Kostić and Koopmeiners were not as influential as them in the end.
For the striker role, Tudor opted for Randal Kolo Muani as Dušan Vlahović can be considered out of the manager’s plans at the moment.
[Club World Cup 2025: Real Madrid Vs Juventus [0-1]- Analysis](https://150995091.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/1.jpg)
Real Madrid & Juventus Lineups
Real Madrid Wing Play & Shooting From Distance
Real Madrid tried to exploit Juventus’ defensive issues as much as possible in this match, relying mainly on Vinícius and Trents individual traits and their ability to win offensive duels.
To help them be even more dangerous and impactful, both Bellingham and Güler were continuously instructed to be positioned near them as much as possible, proposing passing options in the half-spaces and attracting defenders to them in order to free one of the players.
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