Real Madrid News
Official: Real Madrid win Club World Cup beating Al-Hilal
Real Madrid have been crowned the champions of the world after winning the Club World Cup final against Al-Hilal Saudi in the final. Los Blancos won 5-2 with goals from Vinicius Jr. and Federico Valverde in the first-half. Moussa Marega temporarily halved the deficit in the first half for the Saudi outfit.
Karim Benzema added the third in the 54th minute, four minutes after which Federico Valverde got his brace.
Luciano Vietto managed to get the Saudi outfit on the scoreboard again, but the gap increased to three again in the 69th minute through Vinicius Jr. Vietto did get another round anout the 80th minute, though.
The game was by no means an easy one for Madrid despite registering 60% possession and far more attempts on target. Al-Hilal got a fair few chances on the counter, and scored three past the UCL champs.
This is Madrid’s fourth trophy in the last 365 days. They had previously won La Liga, Champions League, and the UEFA Super Cup. It is the first time since 2018 they are getting back the Club World Cup bagdge badge on their jersey.
Their focus will now shift towards Elche in the league, hoping to close down the deficit on Barcelona. A two-legged tie against Liverpool in the UCL also awaits them, with the first game scheduled at Anfield on 21st February.
Real Madrid News
Real Madrid locker room angry with Barcelona midfielder’s ‘unsportsmanlike’ behaviour – report
While the evident frustration among the Real Madrid players was quite visible following the recent 1-2 defeat against Barcelona, the feeling of vexation was not really limited on the field.
Journalist Mario Cortegana, while writing for The Athletic, has confirmed that once the players got into the dressing room, the environment had an air of anger and frustration.
Players from each team had a go at each other right till the end, especially the likes of Dani Carvajal and Arnau Tenas, who had to be separated by several members from both teams.
Interestingly, before the aforementioned incident, Barcelona midfielder Gavi was already causing some trouble on the field. The youngster did not shy away from putting his body on the line throughout the game and it annoyed Madrid players to the extreme.
First, he pushed Carvajal in one incident and after that, he entangled himself in an off-the-ball clash with Dani Ceballos. The Madrid midfielder first had a collision with Robert Lewandowski and as the game moved on, Gavi made note of the incident.
During the run of play, Gavi pushed Ceballos with his shoulder and it did not settle well with the Madrid players and manager Carlo Ancelotti. The players and the manager were disturbed by Gavi’s behaviour and considered it ‘unsportsmanlike’.
On the other hand, there was frustration involving refereeing decisions as well. It must be remembered that in the 82nd minute, Marco Asensio found the back of the net to send the Madrid fans into a frenzy.
The celebration, however, was cut short as VAR disallowed the goal for an extremely tight offside. “We are sad, frustrated,” a dressing room source told The Athletic. “What happened? A guy looking at a TV in Madrid has decided La Liga.”
Ancelotti, on his part, said: “The disallowed goal? I don’t know, I really don’t know. I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know. I’m leaving with this doubt. If the VAR is sure.”
“I leave this match very proud. I don’t think we deserved to lose today,” he added.
