Real Madrid progressed to the semi-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup after a thrilling 3-2 victory over Borussia Dortmund on Saturday evening.
Madrid were unchanged following the win over Juventus, while Dortmund were without Jobe Bellingham due to suspension as Marcel Sabitzer was recalled.
Los Blancos hit the ground running in the tenth minute when the in-form Gonzalo Garcia stepped in the six-yard box to side-footed home Arda Guler’s cross for his fourth goal of the tournament.
Another goal from the European giants followed ten minutes later as a first-time cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold met a surging Fran Garcia who obliged through a well-taken finish.
In a total dominant spell, Madrid keenly looked to add a third and were inches to it when Jude Bellingham dragged wide from the edge of the area following a loose pass.
The Bundesliga giants made a triple substitution at the start of the second period, with Maximilian Beier, Felix Nmecha and Yan Couto brought on for Pascal Gross, Karim Adeyemi and Niklas Sule.
Madrid’s dominance didn’t stop in the second half, as they were keen to add more goals as the likes of Vinicius Junior, Bellingham, Alexander-Arnold and Garcia remained problematic.
The Black and Yellow, though, were more buoyant than in the opening spell and worked Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to a save from a low shot wide of the area by Beier.
As the minutes ticked, Madrid a trio of changes too with Kylian Mbappe, Luka Modric, and Dani Ceballos on for Vinicius, Bellingham and Alexander-Arnold respectively.
Dortmund kept probing and got a consolation in stoppage time when Beier latched onto a loose ball in the area and fired into the bottom corner.
Los Blancos made sure of victory a minute later as a cross to the back-post from Guler found Mbappe, who volleyed in with ease.
The drama continued to unfold as Dortmund earned a penalty after a foul on Serhou Guirassy by Dean Huijsen who was red-carded in the process.
Guirassy dusted himself off and calmly executed the resultant spot-kick to set-up a nervy final seconds, but Madrid were able to hold out for the victory.
Semi-Finals:
Fluminense v Chelsea
Paris Saint-Germain v Real Madrid
Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images
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