Gonzalo Garcia scored his third goal of the FIFA Club World Cup early in the second half, Kylian Mbappe made his first tournament appearance and Real Madrid reached the quarterfinals with a 1-0 victory over Juventus on Tuesday in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Mbappe came on as Garcia’s replacement for his first action under new manager Xabi Alonso after missing all three group stage games due to a gastrointestinal illness that led to a brief hospitalization.
After scoring 31 times in La Liga and seven more in the UEFA Champions League, the star Frenchman’s return should only boost Madrid’s chances of securing a sixth Club World Cup title in this first expanded competition format. They’ll face the winner of Tuesday’s later second-round match between Borussia Dortmund and CF Monterrey on Saturday in East Rutherford, N.J.
Michele Di Gregorio made 10 saves for Juventus, including denials of Arda Guler and Aurelien Tchouameni inside the final 20 minutes to keep his team’s hopes alive. But his exceptional performance couldn’t prevent a second consecutive defeat to a European foe after a 5-2 Juventus loss to Manchester City to close Group G play.
Garcia broke through in the 54th minute.
After an initial corner kick was partially cleared, Trent Alexander-Arnold gained possession and served an out-swinging early cross from the right. Garcia snuck in unmarked behind two teammates and their defenders to power in a header from 6 yards that left Di Gregorio no chance.
Seven minutes later, Federico Valverde nearly scored one of the goals of the tournament, but Di Gregorio reacted excellently to deny his bicycle kick from close range at the left post.
Juventus had the first quality chances. Randal Kolo Muani missed narrowly high on the run in the seventh minute. In the 23rd minute, Francisco Conceicao reached Andrea Cambiaso’s cross, but saw his header saved comfortably by Thibaut Courtois.
Madrid forced Di Gregorio into a pair of excellent stops later in the first half.
In the 30th minute, he denied Jude Bellingham from close range on the right side of the 6-yard box after Valverde’s pass played Bellingham in. A minute into first-half stoppage time, he dove to his left to push Valverde’s excellent long-range effort around his left post.
Madrid continued in the ascendancy after the break, with Bellingham and Dean Huijsen both forcing Di Gregorio into action again before Garcia broke through.
–Field Level Media
