Man City crush Juve as Real Madrid aim to avoid them
Pep Guardiola's Manchester City demonstrated their Club World Cup credentials with an impressive 5-2 victory over Juventus on Thursday in Orlando to claim top spot in Group G.
Al Ain battled to a 2-1 win over Wydad Casablanca in the other match in the group, although both sides were already eliminated.
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Later Thursday Spanish giants Real Madrid are aiming to seal progress to the last 16 when they take on Austrian side RB Salzburg in Group H, knowing a victory will earn them a tie against runners-up Juventus.
Man City became the only side to win all three of their group matches as they put Juventus to the sword in front of 54,000 at the Camping World Stadium.
"We played well and I'm happy with the victory," said City winger Doku, who opened the scoring.
"We're playing to win (the tournament, but) we go game by game and we're just curious to see who we're going to play against."
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Doku pounced after new arrival Rayan Ait-Nouri set him up with a clever ball.
However City stopper Ederson passed the ball straight to Teun Koopmeiners who levelled for Juventus, in one of the few moments Guardiola's team let their focus slip.
Pierre Kalulu bundled into his own net from Matheus Nunes' cross to restore City's lead.
The Premier League side, hoping to make up for a poor season by their standards in which they finished without a major trophy, stepped up a level after the break with Erling Haaland's introduction.
The Norwegian striker tapped home the third and then helped create the fourth for Phil Foden, before Savinho smashed home from distance for the fifth.
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Dusan Vlahovic netted late on for Juve but it did not take the shine off an impressive triumph for City, who were able to give holding midfielder Rodri Hernandez a first start after his long injury lay-off.
"Manchester City have a lot better (quality of) players than us, that's the truth, that needs to be acknowledged," said Juventus coach Igor Tudor.
"The stars didn't align for us to play better tonight."
Although both Al Ain and Wydad Casablanca were already eliminated, both battled hard to finish on a high note.
Moroccan side Wydad have enjoyed strong support at the tournament and delighted their fans with a fourth minute opener.
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South African striker Cassius Mailula blasted home at the near post to put them in front at Audi Field in Washington, DC.
Togo international Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba levelled from the spot just before the break for Al Ain, with their first goal of the tournament after 5-0 and 6-0 thrashings by Juve and Man City respectively.
Paraguayan international Alejandro Romero curled home from the edge of the box to earn the team from the United Arab Emirates victory.
"I'm so happy for scoring and helping my team-mates... it's been a good experience, a difficult group, but competing until the end is good for Al Ain," said Romero.
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- No Mbappe yet -
Xabi Alonso's Real Madrid face Salzburg in Philadelphia in the Spaniard's third match at the helm, knowing victory will help them swerve Guardiola's ominous City.
Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal, third, still have a chance of qualifying too if they beat eliminated Pachuca in the other Group H clash.
Should they triumph and either Madrid or Salzburg win as well, Al-Hilal will go through second.
If Madrid and Salzburg draw and the Saudi side win, all three teams will be level on five points and different outcomes are possible depending on the final score in Philadelphia.
Real Madrid are still without French superstar striker Kylian Mbappe, although he is on the mend after a stomach bug.
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The forward was not included in the squad for the game despite returning to training on Wednesday.
"He's doing well, but not enough to play tomorrow with the level that we need," said Alonso on the eve of the game.
"He said it himself when we spoke after training, he prefers to be ready for the last 16."
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