Al-Hilal Hold Real Madrid; Manchester City and Juventus Secure Opening Wins.
June 19 | Riyadh — Real Madrid’s new era under manager Xabi Alonso got off to a frustrating start as the Spanish giants were held to a 1-1 draw by Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal in their opening FIFA Club World Cup fixture.
Madrid began brightly, taking an early lead through 21-year-old striker Gonzalo Garcia, who capped off a swift counter-attack with a composed finish. Despite registering seven shots on target, Los Blancos failed to extend their lead.
Al-Hilal equalised midway through the second half after Raul Asensio brought down Marcos Leonardo in the box. Veteran midfielder Ruben Neves stepped up and calmly slotted home the penalty to level the score.
Madrid had a golden opportunity to reclaim the lead in the final minute after Mohammed Al-Qahtani fouled Fran Garcia in the area. With Kylian Mbappe sidelined due to illness, Fede Valverde took the spot-kick but was denied by Yassine Bounou, who produced a decisive save to secure a point for the Saudi side.
New signing Trent Alexander-Arnold made his debut for Madrid but struggled to influence the game in attack. The English full-back showed flashes of his passing range but will be looking for improvement in upcoming matches.
Manchester City Impress; Juventus Run Riot
Elsewhere, Manchester City opened their Club World Cup campaign with a 2-0 win over Wydad AC of Morocco. Phil Foden starred for City, scoring one goal and assisting another for Jeremy Doku. Pep Guardiola’s side ended the match with 10 men after Rico Lewis was shown a red card in the final minutes for a high boot while contesting a loose ball.
Juventus enjoyed the most emphatic result of the day, thrashing UAE’s Al-Ain FC 5-0 in Igor Tudor’s first match in charge. Forwards Randal Kolo Muani and Francisco Conceição each netted twice, while Kenan Yildiz added a fifth in a dominant performance that wrapped up matchday one.
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