Real flirt with disaster late on to set up PSG semi at Club World Cup

Qatar Tribune

06-07-2025

dpa
East Rutherford, New Jersey
Real Madrid outlasted Borussia Dortmund 3-2 after a dramatic finale on Saturday to set up an intriguing Club World Cup semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain.
Gonzalo Garcia opened the scoring in the 10th minute and Fran Garcia got the second 10 minutes later as Real were in full control.
But it was not over until plenty of stoppage time drama with three goals, a red card for Real's Dean Huijsen, and a mega save from Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois on the last play of the match.
Maximilian Beier pulled one back for Dortmund completely out of the blue, Kylian Mabappe's artistic volley made it 3-1, Serhou Guirassy converted a penalty to give Dortmund hope again after being pulled down by Huijsen which resulted in the red card.
Courtois then made an extraordinary save against Marcel Sabitzer to preserve the victory.
New Real coach Xabi Alonso had brought on France captain Mbappe and Croatian veteran Luka Modric late in the game amid big cheers from the fans.
Dortmund came close but Real advanced into the final four which on Wednesday at the same venue will be a duel between the record Champions League winners from Spain and the reigning champions in the elite event from France. PSG beat Bayern Munich 2-0 earlier Saturday.
'It a great challenge for us to play PSG. We are positive from today and move on to the next one,' Alonso told streaming portal DAZN.
Looking at the match, he added: 'It was under control with the result and not conceding much, but the last 10 minutes were crazy. We lost our shape and intensity.'
Dortmund defender Waldemar Anton said: 'We tried after the first goal and didn't give up. I already saw the last ball in.
'A 3-3 would have been lucky. We didn't do well in the first half. We conceded too easy and had too much respect. It was a little better in 2nd half.'
Alonso fielded the same 11 that started in the quarter-final against Juventus while Dortmund's Niko Kovac made two changes.
Julian Brandt came on for Jobe Bellingham, whose suspension ruled out a of brothers against Real's Jude Bellingham, who in the past also played in Dortmund.
The Germans had an early chance from Brandt's header which went wide but Real soon took control and took the lead in the 10th minute when Gonzalo Garcia volleyed in Arda Güler's pass.
It got worse for Dortmund when a cross from the right by Trent Alexander-Arnold found the other full back Fran Garcia to drill home for 2-0.
Bellingham shot wide in the 26th and Vinicius Junior chipped over with Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel stranded far outside of his goal shortly before half-time.
Real were not quite as dominant after the break but Dortmund also lacked in attack to find a way back into the match.
Aurelien Tchouameni rattled the crossbar but a goal would not have counted because Vinicius Junior was offside in the build-up.
Güler aimed inches wide in stoppage time and Antonio Rüdiger poked wide as well as Real appeared to head to an easy win - until all the drama unfolded late on.