Xabi Alonso said in the buildup he was going to “ignite” his players at this Club World Cup, that Real Madrid were ready to rock’n’roll. In the event this was something more downbeat in Miami, 90 minutes of pub-rock, at times even a meandering shoe-gaze as a well-drilled Al-Hilal kept the new-era Madrid at arm’s length.
Madrid had a chance to win it at the death, but Federico Valverde missed a dubiously awarded 92nd-minute penalty. A 1-1 draw felt fair at the end of a Group H opener that flickered but never caught fire.
“We don’t expect the team to work perfectly on the first day,” a phlegmatic Alonso said. “But we weren’t frustrated. We need to do things differently, to correct a few details. We saw a good reaction in the second half. It has only been nine days and three training sessions.”
As expected the Hard Rock was a sun-dappled sea of white at kick-off, Madrid the greatest portable source of eyeball-power at this made-for-TV show. The club announced before the game that they had sold 60,000 tickets for this 65,000 capacity stadium, which seems a little hard on Al-Hilal, who are owned by the Saudi government and as a result are basically paying for the whole show. So, thanks for that.
It was another strange day at the mothership of all strange footballing events. Most obviously the game kicked off at 3pm local time in mid-June, when just trying to cross the road in South Florida is likely to induce a state of sock-soaking dehydration, and trying to run is like hurling yourself headfirst into the heart of the sun dressed in a fleece bodysuit and thermal slipper socks.
In other staging news, Fifa revived its No To Racism messaging, running a short video to that effect on the big screen before kick-off. It felt like a clear response to suggestions it has once again kowtowed to the nearest authoritarian leader by watering down its message to Football Unites The World, which has the added drawback of being demonstrably incorrect. It also felt like pre-emptive PR opportunism. Vinícius Junior, who started here, is the most vocal anti-racism campaigner in La Liga.
Alonso also said in the buildup that Madrid needed “closure with the past”. Good luck with that one. Madrid feasts on the past. But he picked a fresh-looking team, with the re-branded “Trent” making his debut alongside fellow newbie Dean Huijsen, and 21-year-old Gonzalo García at the point of the attack.
Kylian Mbappé was absent with a fever, possibly even the strain of football fever Gianni Infantino has claimed is sweeping the US, albeit in asymptomatic form judging by the world beyond the stadiums.
So we got to see Trent Alexander-Arnold for the first time in match-day kit, a familiar shambling, bandy-legged figure, starting at right-back in a regulation 4-3-3. But it was Al-Hilal who almost opened the scoring after two minutes, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s drive drawing a save from Thibaut Courtois. And with 13 minutes gone Marcos Leonardo really should have scored for Al-Hilal, deflecting a mis-hit shot just wide. Vinícius was booked for the crime of evading a potential Kalidou Koulibaly shin-raker. Alexander-Arnold gave the ball away a few times, most notably before a break that ended with the ball in the Madrid net, only to be rescued by an offside flag. Alonso had spoken a lot about the need for Jude Bellingham to be “in the right position”. At times in the opening half hour Madrid had little to offer beyond his roving note of menace.
But they scored after 34 minutes from a break the length of the pitch, started by Alexander-Arnold winning a challenge outside his own box. The ball was shuttled through midfield to Rodrygo on the right. His cross was perfectly curved into the path of García. The finish bobbled off one foot on to the other, the end result a dink into the net.
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So the age of Alonso had its first goal. But it conceded its first seven minutes later after Raul Asencio gave away a needless penalty, wrapping an arm around Leonardo as he veered away. Rúben Neves buried the kick.
Arda Guler came on for Asencio at half-time, Aurélien Tchouaméni dropping into the back four. And Guler immediately hit the bar, before García drew a goal-line reflex save from Yassine Bounou as Al-Hilal lived, briefly, on the edge.
Bellingham showed some drive on the right. He wandered to the left. He gestured at his teammates. Madrid dominated possession for a while, playing in the merciful shade of the Hard Rock’s vast wedding cake roof.
Alexander-Arnold came off after 65 minutes of a so-so, occasionally bright debut. The game became a little sluggish and fretful in temperatures that never strayed below a brutally humid 90 degrees. Al-Hilal might have taken the lead after Lucas Vázquez gave the ball away, but Leonardo clumped his finish over the bar with pond-wader finesse.
And at the death it seemed Madrid might produce a classic late assertion of their Darwinian right to victory as they were awarded a very soft VAR-reviewed penalty. Valverde’s kick was saved. It felt like justice for a spunky Al-Hilal.
