Al-Hilal and Real Madrid played a 1-1 draw in their group G FIFA Club World Opener, and there were lessons for Madrid fans and the board to take away from the game.
Real Madrid performed below their usual level, which has been the story for the most part of this season, but the bone of contention was that this performance was against a team from the Saudi Pro League.
While many football fans don’t really rate Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr and rest of the teams in the league even though they are battling with top clubs in the transfer market for the best talents and Ronaldo’s claim that the Saudi Pro League is a top league, Al-Hilal have given football fans a lot to think about.
In 2022, they held the record for the highest-scoring Club World Cup final, with a 5-3 scoreline against Real Madrid, a final which they lost.
This Al-Hilal team feels like a ‘semi-European’ team. Neves, Mitrovic, Reman Lodi, Milinkovic-Savic, Bounou, and Koulibaly were all top European stars, and they have dominated the Saudi football landscape in the last 3 years.
Against Real Madrid, they played like they were equals. Real Madrid struggled from start to finish. Even when Real Madrid went ahead, it was against the run of play; Real Madrid were by far the lesser team in that game based on quality.
Madrid’s defense struggled to match the intensity that Malcolm and Al-Dawsari brought to the fore.
Trent Alexander-Arnold had a regrettable debut and Madrid fans were livid at his performance. It was appalling to see, but most football fans knew that defending and Trent were two worlds apart.
Asencio did a good job at covering for him but he ended up causing a penalty which Ruben Neves slotted past Courtois to pull his team level. Al-Hilal carried the most threat in the game.
It was like they were going to slice through the Madrid defense every time they got through the ball and most times, they did.
Xabi Alonso has a lot of work ahead of him. You can argue that the absence of Rudiger, Camavinga and Mbappe may have cost the team but if Madrid are going to be requiring their squad to be at its full strength to grind out results even against teams they are way better than, then it’s a long season ahead.
