Vinicius Junior scored one and assisted another in a dominant display from Los Blancos
Real Madrid booked their place in the Club World Cup round of 16 with a confident 3-0 win over RB Salzburg on a rainy night in Philadelphia, avoiding a tough clash with Manchester City in the next round.
Vinicius Junior was at the heart of Madrid’s performance, scoring once and assisting another as Xabi Alonso’s side topped Group H with seven points. The result means they will now face Juventus in Miami, while runners-up Al-Hilal will meet Manchester City in Orlando.
Madrid’s attacking intent was clear from the start, with Vinicius testing Salzburg’s 18-year-old goalkeeper Christian Zawieschitzky early on. The youngster was impressive, pulling off a brilliant save from point-blank range to keep things level.
But the breakthrough came five minutes before halftime. Jude Bellingham slipped a perfect pass into Vinicius, who skipped past two defenders and fired past Zawieschitzky to open the scoring.
Madrid doubled their lead in stoppage time at the end of the first half. Vinicius was again involved, this time using a clever back-heel inside the box to set up Federico Valverde, who made no mistake from close range.
Salzburg pushed forward in the second half but they struggled to create anything clear against Madrid’s solid defence. The Spanish side, meanwhile, looked dangerous on the break but were too profligate to win by a wider margin.
Their third goal eventually came with six minutes left, when Gonzalo Garcia latched onto a long ball and lobbed it calmly over the onrushing Salzburg goalkeeper to seal the win.
