Rabat: Spanish giants Real Madrid stormed into final of the Club World Cup with an authoritative win against the Egyptian club Al Ahly.
Vinícius Júnior, Federico Valverde, Rodrygo and Sergio Arribas scored for the Spanish side, which will play the Saudi club Al-Hilal in the final this Saturday. The Saudi Arabian team beat Brazilian club Flamengo 3-2 Tuesday.
Real Madrid has won the club world title for a record seven times, including three times when the competition used to call the Intercontinental Cup. It was last in 2018 when the club won the prestigious Club World Cup title.
Ali Maaloul scored the lone goal for Al Ahly, with his team already trailing 2-0 in the second half. Vinícius opened the scoring in the 42nd minute for his 50th goal in 202 matches with Madrid. Valverde added to the lead early in the second half before Rodrygo and Arribas sealed the victory in stoppage time. It was the first goal for the 21-year-old Arribas with Madrid’s first team.
“We lowered the intensity and suffered a bit, but in the end we could manage it,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “We go into the final very motivated.”
Madrid was without six injured players who did not travel to Morocco, including striker Karim Benzema, defender Éder Militão and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
Ancelotti said Benzema and Militão will rejoin their teammates for the final, but Courtois, forward Eden Hazard and defenders Ferland Mendy and Lucas Vázquez are not going to make it.
Madrid had been struggling recently, having won only two of its last seven matches in a stint that included defeat against rival Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final in Saudi Arabia.
Madrid won the Club World Cup in 2014 — also in Morocco — and from 2016-2018. The other titles in 1960, 1998 and 2002 came in the Intercontinental Cup.
The last time a non-European team won the Club World Cup was in 2012, when Brazil’s Corinthians beat Chelsea 1-0 in Japan.
AP
