Valverde misses late penalty as Real Madrid held in Club World Cup opener | OneFootball

Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw by Al Hilal in Miami, as Xabi Alonso took charge of his first game in the Club World Cup at the Hard Rock Stadium.

With only six training sessions under his belt, Alonso handed starts to new arrivals Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dean Huijsen in the backline.

But it was the Saudi side who made the brighter start, with Marcos Leonardo and Renan Lodi both going close in the early stages.

Despite the pressure, it was Los Blancos who struck first. In the 34th minute, academy graduate Gonzalo García - filling in for the absent  Kylian Mbappé - coolly slotted home to put Madrid ahead.

Al Hilal hit back just before the break. Former Wolves midfielder Rúben Neves converted from the penalty spot after Madrid’s defence was caught out, and Simone Inzaghi’s side showed plenty of steel and attacking threat to keep their opponents on edge.

As seen in many matches at this tournament, the quality dipped after the restart. Leonardo had two decent chances to put Al Hilal ahead but couldn’t make them count.

Late on, Madrid were handed a golden opportunity to snatch the win. Fran García went down under a challenge from Mohammed Al-Qahtani, with the referee ruling that the Al Hilal winger had caught him in the face with an arm while attempting to win the ball.

Fede Valverde stepped up to take the resulting penalty, but his tame effort was well saved by Bono, who dived to his right to earn Al Hilal a deserved point.