Real Madrid 3-2 Borussia Dortmund: Late drama sees Xabi Alonso’s side nearly throw comfortable game away
Gonzalo Garcia came into this game as the hottest man in Real Madrid’s frontline. Strange to say given the team has two of the biggest forwards in world football – but it is true. Before the meeting with Borussia Dortmund the 21-year-old had scored three goals in four matches for Los Blancos. It took only 10 minutes for him to take that number to four on Saturday and tie with Angel Di Maria at the top of the Club World Cup scoring charts.
Having made only six appearances for Madrid as a youngster from Castilla before joining the squad Stateside, Garcia was handed a golden opportunity by an illness that kept Kylian Mbappe out for three games, and the 21-year-old has seized it with both hands.
In the 10th minute, following some clever movement to evade detection, Garcia rose between defenders to prod home from Arda Guler’s pinpoint delivery and give Madrid a lead that ensured much of the game was comfortable.
Another player who impressed was Trent Alexander-Arnold, who got his second assist for his new club with a low drive to Fran Garcia to score the second in the 20th minute.
Madrid had other chances but their finishing was poor. Vinicius Junior could only manage a tame shot when the ball dropped favourably for him in the box. With an even clearer chance after being put through by Guler close to the half-time break, he tried a lob but it was wildly mishit. Bellingham’s effort went just wide after a clever dummy by Vinicius had opened up a shooting opportunity at the edge of the box, and Luka Modric could have done better in the second half when he had time and space from 12 yards.
Tactically, Alonso did a good job of setting up his side to shut out Dortmund. The strong and hard-working Federico Valverde was deployed on the right side of midfield to pair up with Alexander-Arnold as Dortmund tried to find weaknesses on that flank. Karim Adeyemi is a speedster but he was adequately caged.
Dortmund’s best chances came from Maximilian Beier. The German got a few opportunities at the byline but struggled to deliver a worthy cross under pressure from Madrid. Then he managed to get space for a shot on goal just after the hour mark but it hardly troubled Thibaut Courtois.
Kylian Mbappe was introduced in the second half to a mighty cheer from the crowd. Tellingly, Alonso opted to withdraw the off-pace Vinicius and keep Garcia on. The 21-year-old was not substituted until the 86th minute, by which time the match had got seriously cagey, most of it played in the midfield.
It looked like the game would peter out at 2-0, but Toni Rudiger’s poor clearance soon kicked off a late drama, allowing Beier to finally score and half the deficit for Dortmund in stoppage time. Then came Mbappe’s moment. Getting away from Waldemar Anton, the France forward positioned himself in the six-yard box to hit a superb bicycle kick into the bottom left corner following a cross from Guler. Instead of his usual celebration, he ran to the touchline to sign the number 20 and then bow in respect for the departed Liverpool and Portugal player Diogo Jota.
The drama promptly resumed with Dean Huijsen fouling Serhou Guirassy in the box to concede a penalty. The new boy from Bournemouth was sent off and Mbappe got a yellow card for excessive protest. Guirassy then converted from the spot to make it 3-2 in the 98th minute.
There was time for one last scene. The game’s final moment was a super save from Courtois, diving low to his right to put a strong hand to Marcel Sabitzer’s venomous effort and prevent Dortmund from equalising 3-3.
