Three takeaways from Real Madrid 1-1 Al-Hilal | OneFootball

Real Madrid kicked off their FIFA Club World Cup campaign against Al-Hilal last night, and in the process, kicked off a new era under Xabi Alonso.

The new manager’s first game in charge was far from ideal and the team did not look as fresh as one would expect with a new ideology in place. That, however, is understandable given that they have had little time to process the changes.

Gonzalo Garcia opened the scoring on the night with a well-worked finish and gave Real Madrid the lead over Al-Hilal. A penalty conceded by Raul Asencio, however, helped them level the scores once more.

In the end, the game ended with a 1-1 scoreline and both teams were forced to settle for a draw, much to the dismay of Alonso who would have hoped for a better start to his tenure at the club.

Madrid Universal brings you three takeaways from Real Madrid 1-1 Al-Hilal.

Mbappe’s absence weighs heavy

Xabi Alonso’s first-ever starting lineup for Real Madrid was headlined by the absence of Kylian Mbappe and the player’s unavailability ended up playing a big part in the final result.

It became quite clear towards the tail-end of last season that Mbappe was the team’s sole bonafide threat-creator on goal, especially with Vinicius Jr looking off-colour and others not hitting hard enough on the counterattack.

The same theme continued last night with Los Blancos not looking nearly sharp enough on the counter as they lacked Mbappe’s pace, agility and composure in front of the goal.

Alonso selected Gonzalo Garcia to replace Mbappe and the youngster went on to score the team’s only goal on the night. In all fairness, he should have had a couple more goals as he missed two big chances.

It is thus fair to say, while respecting the academy graduate’s performance, that Mbappe would have buried the chances his way or at least created more chances on his own even if he did not.

If the Frenchman returns to action, Alonso’s side will turn up completely differently for the next game.

A night of contrasting debuts

Not the best of debuts for Trent. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

The big talking point ahead of Real Madrid’s game against Al-Hilal was the impending debuts of the two big signings of the summer, both of which had been accelerated keeping this very event in mind.

The hype around both players was real, for both arrived as some of the best in the world in their position and a long-term bet by the management. The duo, however, had contrastingly different debuts.

Dean Huijsen was the one with the superior performance on the night as he looked at home at the heart of Real Madrid’s defence. He was unfazed, calm under pressure and a force to reckon with in front of Thibaut Courtois’ goal.

In 90 minutes, he racked up three clearances, three tackles, an interception and completed 87% of his passes. Further, he even provided one key pass and created one big chance.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, meanwhile, was not as convincing in his first night in a Real Madrid shirt. He did indeed win the ball back and start the attack that led to the team’s goal, but he looked defensively off and poor with his distribution.

The right-back lost possession 12 times, was sloppy with his long balls and proved to be a defensive liability who Renan Lodi thoroughly exploited. Something to work on for the former Liverpool man.

Rough start to a big tournament

Florentino Perez and Co. have attached a lot of importance to the FIFA Club World Cup and the Merengues are rightfully seen as one of the favourites to win the tournament.

Their start to the event last night, however, was far from the dominant game fans expected especially considering the opposition. After all, Los Blancos were expected to course through the group stage of the tournament with relative ease.

Having dropped two points on day 1, there is pressure on the club to win the two remaining games now, both of which will not be easy.

Pachuca may prove to be an easier opponent than Al-Hilal, but RB Salzburg are a serious threat to Xabi Alonso’s side. Winning over Al-Hilal, needless to say, would have been massive.

All is not lost – rather, the sole poor result does not change much in terms of Real Madrid’s qualification chances. It is, however, a matter of prestige and there is a lot of ground to improve if they are to go on and win the event.