Real Madrid Defeats Salzburg to Secure Group Leadership | OneFootball

After eight games, Vinícius Júnior has finally found the back of the net again. Real Madrid left no chance for Red Bull Salzburg, winning 3-0 in Philadelphia to confirm their leadership of Group H in the Club World Cup.

The Austrians were eliminated, as Al Hilal defeated Pachuca to set up a clash with Manchester City in the round of 16. The Merengues will face Juventus.

Vinicius (finally) finds the net

Real Madrid started the game with a quiet dominance. They controlled the ball, looked for opportunities in the final third, but without hurry, maintaining a slow pace. Salzburg, on the other hand, tried unsuccessfully to pick up speed on the counterattacks.

When the play came together, the Merengues lacked finesse in the box. First, Jude Bellingham made a great pass to put Vinícius Júnior in front of goal, but Zawieschitzky saved like a handball goalkeeper. Shortly after, Valverde saw the defense clear his goal at the last moment.

After the chances and scares, the Austrians managed to find some calm. They got into the game, with more advances in the final third and less pressure on their own defense. The game shifted slightly in their favor.

Just as the game was becoming uncomfortable for the Blancos, Jude Bellingham threaded a great ball at pace to Vinícius, who skillfully cut past the defender, took it on his left foot and shot low to open the scoring. The Brazilian ended his drought of eight games without a goal.

Vini then took control of the first half. Close to the break, he received another pass upfront, inside the box, but chose to selflessly roll it back to Valverde who beat the goalkeeper to make it 2-0.

Salzburg Still Trying, Without Success

A change for the second half, Adam Daghim put Courtois into action. The striker received the ball in the box, shielded it and unleashed a left-footed strike. The Belgian goalkeeper turned it away for a corner. The Austrians were more assertive.

In the next attack, Bellingham faltered in a clearance, Baidoo recovered the ball and passed it to Daghim in the box. Again, a strong left-footed shot, but this time it was off target, over the goal. Another dangerous moment.

Daghim was active outside the box. On the right, the striker shook off his marker and sent a low pass into the box for Kjaergaard, another substitute, to finish. But the shot wasn't good, and the ball went over the target.

The Spaniards were on the ropes, and even Bellingham emerged as a hero in defense to prevent a certain goal from Baidoo. Xabi Alonso then turned to his bench, bringing on Modric and Rodrygo.

It was one of those games where Real suffered, seemed cornered, but then when the opportunity arose, "committed the crime". Arnold put the ball ahead for Gonzalo, who took advantage of a mistake by Gadou and cleverly removed it from the goalkeeper to seal the game: 3-0. The match against Juventus is set.