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NEW YORK, the United States | Xinhua | Real Madrid’s adventure in the FIFA Club World Cup came to a painful end with a 4-0 defeat against European champions Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night in New Jersey.
Real Madrid trailed 2-0 after just nine minutes and never looked like getting back into a match dominated by a swift and aggressive rival.
The result brought Madrid’s positive start under new coach Xabi Alonso to a shuddering halt, and will raise some big question marks ahead of the forthcoming La Liga season.
Real Madrid had a disappointing start to the tournament with a 1-1 draw against Saudi side Al Hilal, but recovered with wins over Pachuca and RB Salzburg in the group stage, before squeezing past Juventus 1-0 and then Borussia Dortmund 3-2 in the knockout stages.
Alonso’s side looked to be gaining confidence and showing a more solid football than in last season under Carlo Ancelotti, with young striker Gonzalo Garcia impressing with four goals in attack.
PSG will be a wake-up call to Madrid, with some howling defensive efforts to gift the French side its two opening goals, and center-back Raul Asencio will look back on a tournament that will raise questions over his ability as he saw a red card, gifted a penalty and was responsible for the opening goal on Wednesday.
The flip side of Asencio’s display is that Dean Huijsen has looked to be an excellent buy from Bournemouth, with the young defender proving to be solid in defense, stylish on the ball and powerful in the air.
Huijsen will certainly play a big role in the upcoming season and was missed on Wednesday, as was Trent Alexander-Arnold, who was out injured.
Alexander-Arnold allows Real Madrid to play with three central defenders and two wing-backs, which is Xabi Alonso’s preferred system.
The former Liverpool player showed his creative side earlier in the tournament and is also called on to be vital this season, although Dani Carvajal returned after injury and will be a reliable substitute.
Eder Militao was also back in action and will boost Madrid’s options in central defense, but the fact that Luka Modric and Lucas Vazquez are now leaving the club means Madrid will need to sign another central midfielder.
The club also wants to sign a left-back, with Alex Grimaldo being Alonso’s preferred candidate, after Fran Garcia suffered on Wednesday. That wasn’t all Garcia’s fault, however, after Vinicius Jr gave a dreadful display, being flat in attack and offering almost no defensive cover.
Kylian Mbappe also failed to track back, allowing the PSG midfield and attack space to launch their moves. Maybe Alonso’s biggest job will be to get a change of attitude from forwards, who are used to just attacking but will now be asked to be the first line of defense.
Alonso’s players will now have a well-deserved holiday, before returning to La Liga in mid-August, but it will be a short break and maybe in December, the efforts of this summer will prove to be an issue when the domestic and European season gets underway with much less recovery time than anyone else in Spain. ■
