Real Madrid 3-2 Borussia Dortmund: Injury-time mayhem as Madrid hold on to lead

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·5 luglio 2025

Real Madrid 3-2 Borussia Dortmund: Injury-time mayhem as Madrid hold on to lead

Real Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund 3-2 in the quarter-final of the Club World Cup on Saturday, but their advantage almost collapsed in injury time.

The replay of the 2024 Champions League final produced a far more entertaining contest in the Club World Cup. Kylian Mbappé scored an overhead kick in injury time, while Dean Huijsen was shown red and gifted Dortmund a late penalty, which Serhou Guirassy converted. Marcel Sabitzer could have equalised from the final kick of the game, but Thibaut Courtois had other ideas.

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The battle of the Bellingham brothers had to wait another day. Jobe Bellingham was suspended after receiving a yellow card against Monterrey on Wednesday for a foul against Nelson Deossa, after his initial booking against Ulsan HD.

Nine-man Paris Saint-Germain managed to cross the line against Bayern Munich on Saturday, meaning Real Madrid will play the reigning Champions League victors for a place in the final.

As it happened

Despite returning from illness in the second half against Juventus, Kylian Mbappé was benched for Saturday’s match at the MetLife Stadium. Instead, Xabi Alonso elected for an unchanged starting lineup, with Gonzalo García retaining his place after his match winner on Tuesday.

Dortmund Manager Niko Kovac brought in attacking reinforcements of Marcel Sabitzer and Julian Brandt in the absence of Bellingham, while demoting Felix Nmecha to the bench.

Gonzalo and Fran García linked up exceptionally well, pressurising Dortmund from the left flank. Ten minutes into the first half, the pressure revealed cracks in the German defence, as Gonzalo converted a cross from Arda Güler, putting Madrid 1-0 ahead.

It was his fourth goal in the Club World Cup, becoming the tournament’s joint top scorer, alongside Angel Di Maria and Marcos Leonardo.

After being granted limited LaLiga appearances last season under Carlo Ancelotti, the 21-year-old has surely established himself as a worthy back-up to Mbappé.

Fran later doubled Madrid’s advantage after Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross was not dealt with in the centre of the penalty area, leaving the 25-year-old left-back acres of space to convert.

Los Blancos could have put the game to bed inside the opening half hour, with Jude Bellingham’s shot trickling past the woodwork, and Vinícius Júnior’s powerful strike into the hands of Gregor Kobel.

Kovac’s side couldn’t match Madrid’s dominance in the first half, after an unanswered deficit cultivated by the García duo. Borussia Dortmund had a hill to climb, as they made three changes for the second half.

The German side looked more threatening on the attack following the changes, but their Spanish opponents were electrifying on the couter.

A powerful strike from Aurélien Tchouaméni rattled the crossbar just after the hour mark. Despite Vinícius Júnior being offside in the build-up, the reverberations from the woodwork could be detected in the nerves of Dortmund’s defence.

The roar of the MetLife Stadium certainly didn’t help after Mbappé’s introduction, as Alonso made a triple change of his own.

Real Madrid were relentless to the final whistle, but despite Maximilian Beier’s injury-time goal for Borussia Dortmund, Mbappé’s acrobatic overhead kick, courtesy of a cross from Arda Guler, regained Madrid’s advantage.

The contest was thought to be done and dusted, but a late penalty and a Dean Huijsen red card, gave Dortmund an opportunity to close the deficit in injury time. Serhou Guirassy converted from the spot in the 98th minute.

Thibaut Courtois’s last-second save prevented Marcel Sabitzer from squeezing his shot into the bottom right corner, as Madrid almost squandered a certain victory.

Real Madrid will face the European champions, Paris Saint-Germain, on 9 July for a place in the Club World Cup Final.