Three takeaways from Real Madrid 1-0 Juventus | OneFootball

Real Madrid pulled off a 1-0 win over Juventus in the Round of 16 of the FIFA Club World Cup last night, sealing a place for themselves in the next round of the competition and continuing their strong run of form under Xabi Alonso.

The Real Madrid coach made no changes from the team that defeated RB Salzburg by a 3-0 margin earlier in the competition and retained faith in the players who have shown tangible improvement in recent weeks.

Needless to say, his decisions paid off as Gonzalo Garcia scored the winner for Real Madrid. In all honesty, the scoreline should have been far more dominant in favour of the Merengues but the Juventus goalkeeper had an unbelievable game with ten saves.

Madrid Universal brings you three talking points from Real Madrid 1-0 Juventus.

Gonzalo Garcia just keeps going

Despite Kylian Mbappe being back to fitness, Xabi Alonso opted to start the Frenchman on the bench so as to ease him back. The decision, needless to say, came as a boon to Gonzalo Garcia as it presented him with another chance to impress and continue his red-hot form.

Up to the game last night, the academy star already had two goals and an assist to his name in three appearances in the competition and the spotlight, needless to say, was on him to see what he could conjure in his final presumed start of the competition.

Garcia, however, once again over-performed expectations as he struck Real Madrid’s only goal on the night with a well-worked finish and handed Los Blancos the lead in a game where it seemed impossible to get the ball past Michele Di Gregorio.

In his 68 minutes on the field before he was replaced by Mbappe, the academy ace had one shot on target, won three duels and scored the decisive goal.

He may not have been involved in the game as much as one would have liked but all that matters is that he earned the team a place in the next round.

More importantly, he has again complicated Alonso’s selection for the next game for he is seemingly undroppable in the form he is in.

Rampant in midfield

Dominant. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

The 1-0 win for Real Madrid bears a scoreline that suggests a game far closer than it truly was. Michele Di Gregorio kept Juventus in contention till the very end, but it was clear that Los Blancos were the dominant team from start to finish.

Their dominance stemmed from midfield where they controlled the ball to perfection, retaining complete control of the proceedings throughout and not giving the Italians any sniff of the ball.

The masterclass in the middle of the park was spearheaded by Federico Valverde and Arda Guler who also received great support from both Jude Bellingham and Aurelien Tchouameni.

Valverde, for starters, was invaluable with the stability and line-breaking passes he provided and kept Juventus silent for large parts of the game. He racked up a staggering five key passes, had six shots including four on target, created one big chance in 89 minutes.

Guler, meanwhile, racked up three key passes and created two big chances in his 78 minutes with nine accurate long balls and 92% of his passes completed.

The midfield, needless to say, has been the single-most improved department since Alonso’s appointment and has grown leaps and bounds from the wreck it was under Carlo Ancelotti.

Such continued dominance in the department shows that the new manager is starting to fix what was one of the team’s biggest concerns not so long ago.

Into the quarters

Irrespective of the result and the scoreline that defined it, Real Madrid’s win over Juventus last night seals them a place in the quarterfinal of the FIFA Club World Cup, and in the process, a step closer to the special title.

It is the first time the event has been conducted in the current format and Florentino Perez, thus, has had it as his goal to ensure that Real Madrid become its first-ever winner.

Now into the final eight, Los Blancos are three games away from the title and will have no reason to believe they cannot pull it off. The competition, however, will only get more difficult from here on.

The men in white lock horns with Borussia Dortmund in their quarterfinal clash in what will be a seriously challenging game. After all, the Germans’ last defeat across all competitions came back in April.