Real Madrid 3-1 Pachuca: Xabi Alonso grabs first win as Los Blancos coach as Madrid show their mettle
Reduced to ten men even before the tenth minute of the game, Real Madrid were forced to dig deep, then deeper, then just a little bit deeper as the Spanish giants emerged 3-1 winners over Pachuca in a Charlotte that burned at 34°C.
Madrid came to North Carolina desperate for a win, having drawn 1-1 against Al-Hilal in their first group game last week. But it seemed the match would head nowhere but south just seven minutes in when centre-back Raul Asencio – culpable for Al-Hilal’s penalty on Wednesday – brought down Pachuca’s veteran striker Salomon Rondon as he bore down on goal.
A straight red followed, leaving Madrid a man down for the remainder of the afternoon in the sweltering stadium.
But Los Blancos proved that they could give far more than they had displayed in this tournament to date, striking first through Jude Bellingham, before adding a second through sensational youngster Arda Guler.
Bellingham’s goal came when the England international latched onto a through ball after silky passing from Real Madrid, drove into the box with customary authority, and tucked a tidy finish past Carlos Moreno into the bottom right corner.
Pachuca had attacked Real Madrid’s goal relentlessly before that opener and managed to raise the tempo even further after going behind, but the Mexican side were perhaps too profligate.
Arda Guler’s goal followed another flowing move from Real Madrid, with Gonzalo Garcia neatly prodding the final ball into Guler’s path for the youngster to finish.
Real Madrid fans then turned up the volume in the Bank of America Stadium, as if to say ‘This is us, this is what we can do’.
It was effectively game over in the 71st minute when Federico Valverde ran into the box to add a third for Madrid from close range. Pachuca would continue peppering the Madrid goal. Rondon and former Newcastle teammate Kenedy both went close and Courtois reacted superbly to deny Alan Bautista, before smothering Carlos Sanchez’s late chance.
Elias Montiel’s heavily deflected shot turned out to be just a consolation as Madrid saw out the game in the final stages.
