Real Madrid 1-0 Juventus: Gonzalo Garcia the difference maker again as Bianconeri exit with a whimper | OneFootball

The youngster hit his third goal of the tournament to see Los Blancos through

Gonzalo Garcia scored the only goal as Real Madrid edged Juventus out of the Club World Cup in a lethargic affair in Miami.

The 21-year-old Garcia, drafted in as an understudy to the poorly Kylian Mbappe, scored what proved to be the winner shortly after half-time to strengthen his claim to a more prominent role in the star-studded side.

Juventus came into the tie fresh off the back of a thoroughly demoralising 5-2 loss to Manchester City, but Igor Tudor’s much-rotated side arrived at the Hard Rock Stadium keen to get their own back.

Real, on the other hand, looked off the boil from the first whistle, dogged in defence when called upon but blunt in attack, reduced in the first half to speculative long-range efforts which Michele Di Gregorio was more than happy to catch.

The underdogs Juventus had the first clear-cut chance of the afternoon. Randal Kolo Muani, back in the starting lineup after missing much of the City drubbing, latched onto Kenan Yildiz’s perfectly weighted through ball, and while his chipped shot was out of the reach of Thibaut Courtois, it landed inches the wrong side of the crossbar.

Real’s best chance of the half came right on the half-hour mark, as Jude Bellingham looked to turn Arda Guler’s cross goalwards from inside the six-yard box. His effort was beyond Di Gregorio but cleared off the line by Daniele Rugani.

As the half wore on, the lack of Madrid edge became increasingly clear. Threatening crosses routinely went unfinished - Aurelien Tchouameni had a particularly glaring error when he leapt to meet a delectable Guler ball but completely missed his attempted header.

The match opened up somewhat in injury time, but the affair was level at half, and justifiably so.

Real Madrid tipped the scales soon after half-time, though. They flew out of the gates, with both Bellingham and Dean Huijsen, facing his former club, going close after the break.

But it was Garcia who broke the deadlock, heading home from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross to give Los Blancos a deserved lead. He has made a statement throughout this tournament, that goal his third in four appearances.

From there, the Spaniards went frustrated. They enjoyed most of the possession and kept Di Gregorio busy, with Federico Valverde forcing a save with a bicycle kick shortly after Garcia’s opener.

A second goal continued to elude them, though, a conundrum which Xabi Alonso looked to remedy with the introduction of Mbappe, debuting under his new head coach after missing the group stage having been hospitalised with acute gastroenteritis.

He did not seem to have fully shaken off the illness, though, spending his cameo plodding around the final third with minimal output in stark contrast to his backup Garcia.

As the match clock counted into the eighties and the burden of the thick Miami air grew heavier by the minute, Real were increasingly content to pass around the back and see the tie over the line.

And see it out they did, doing just enough to claim the penultimate quarter-final spot.