Vinicius powers Real Madrid through to Club World Cup knockout stages
27 June 2025 09:06
ORLANDO, FLORIDA (PA Media/dpa)Real Madrid secured top spot in Group H at the Club World Cup with an emphatic 3-0 victory over RB Salzburg.The win clinched a last-16 meeting with Juventus on Tuesday after the Italians lost to Manchester City in their final group match.The Spanish club dominated the first half, finally making the breakthrough five minutes before the break.Vinicius Junior, who produced a dominant performance, opened the scoring with a left-footed strike from outside the box, following an assist from England's Jude Bellingham.Minutes later, Vinicius turned provider, delivering a clever backheel to an open Federico Valverde who found the bottom corner to double the lead.Gonzalo Garcia added a third after the break to seal the win with a chip.Despite the score, Salzburg kept pressing in the second half and substitute Adam Daghim came close to scoring twice.His first shot was denied by goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and he sent a second attempt over the bar. Bellingham also blocked a dangerous Edmund Baidoo.Real did suffer an injury blow when defender Antonio Rudiger was replaced suffering an apparent hamstring injury. More than 60,000 soaking wet fans braved the weather at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.Real Madrid topped Group H on seven points, ahead of second-placed Al-Hilal, who also progress after a 2-0 win over Mexican Club Pachuca.Madrid coach Xabi Alonso praised his team's hard-fought effort, saying: "It was a good collective performance. We are delighted with the performance, with the result. Now we have gone through first in the group and we carry on. Juventus are one of the historic teams in Europe, they have a good team and it's going to be really tough."
From the 12 European clubs in the tournament, only Porto, Salzburg and Atletico Madrid have been eliminated in the group stages.
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