How Real Madrid brushed aside Borussia Dortmund's challenge at the CWC

The final Club World Cup quarter-final saw a repeat of the 2024 Champions League final as serial winners of both competitions, Real Madrid, took on Borussia Dortmund knowing that the winners would face Paris Saint-Germain at the semi-final stage.

Ahead of kick-off the big news was that the returning Kylian Mbappe had been left on the bench in favour of Gonzalo Garcia, who has been a game-changer for Los Blancos in this tournament. 

Gonzalo Garcia's form relegated Kylian Mbappe to the bench

In the Frenchman's absence the young striker had scored three goals, the joint second most in the competition and the most of any Real player.

Dortmund's Serhou Guirassy had scored a trio of his own and the synergy between the two teams didn't end there as they both had three wins and one draw prior to kick-off.

The opening exchanges resembled a pinball machine as passes were popped off by both teams left, right and centre, with the first chance of any note coming in the fifth minute as BVB's Julian Brandt flashed a header wide after some great work by Karim Adeyemi.

That appeared to spark Real into life and a swift break almost resulted in another goal for Garcia, the cross from namesake Fran just too strong. The same pairing carved out another chance shortly after as the Spaniards upped the ante.

Real Madrid Current FormFlashscore

The Bundesliga outfit were much more assured in their passing (91.2% finding their target), but it was Los Blancos who controlled the tempo and possession (69.8%).

Before 10 minutes was on the clock, an inviting cross from Arda Guler found the man of the moment, and Gonzalo Garcia made no mistake to give him a fourth goal of the tournament. Not bad for a player who might not have got a game in the CWC had Mbappe been fully fit!

Pascal Gross' immediate on-target riposte was a sharp reminder for Real that they weren't going to get things all their own way, though Dean Huijsen was proving difficult to get past. A 'Rolls Royce' defender, Huijsen eased through the gears making more passes than anyone on the pitch (17) in the opening quarter hour.

As Real continued to squeeze their opponents, some super work down the right side between Gonzalo Garcia and Trent Alexander-Arnold saw Dortmund's defence pulled slightly out of position, and that shift saw Fran Garcia arrive unannounced to drill home a second on 19.

It was Real's seventh first-half goal in their five games, and only Bayern Munich (10) and Manchester City (8) had scored more at the CWC.

Dortmund unable to live with Valverde's industry

Adeyemi's three touches in Real's penalty box was all the Bundesliga giants had to show for their efforts, due in no small part to Federico Valverde's industry. Four one-on-one duels for the Uruguayan before half an hour had been played was the most on show and typical of the marauding midfielder.

Jude Bellingham, against his old club, should really have put Real 3-0 up as space opened up for him to deliver, though the England international uncharacteristically pulled his shot wide. He was at least making a difference at both ends, his defensive prowess also helping to keep Dortmund at bay.

Well before half-time this was already looking like a vintage Real performance. Nico Kovac's side were huffing and puffing and won back possession on five separate occasions, but they were clearly wilting in the heat as they chased shadows for long periods. 

Aurelien Tchouameni, again asked to sit directly in front of his defenders by Xabi Alonso, produced a colossal showing in the first-half, and it wasn't just down to his 95% pass accuracy. The Frenchman was everywhere, sticking a foot in here and there to break up a Dortmund attack one minute, then spreading the play down either channel the next. 

Real Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund Half-Time Match StatsFlashscore

Vini Jr's poor individual form continued as he sent the ball over when well placed and with Dortmund keeper, Gregor Kobel, way off his line, and that proved to be the last worthwhile chance of the half.

Kovac shuffled his pack at the break making three substitutions to try and inject some life into his fading Dortmund side.

More physical Dortmund in the second half

Felix Nmecha and Maximilian Beier quickly got themselves involved raising hopes of a potential comeback, even though it would have to be something extra special to beat Thibaut Courtois.

A more robust Dortmund performance began to knock Real out of their stride with Trent in particular struggling with the change of pace. A loss of possession on 11 separate occasions by the former Liverpool man before an hour had been played indicated some personal turmoil down Real's right-hand side.

Real Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund Match StatsOpta by Stats Perform

Although Real were ragged in possession in comparison to their opponents, their two-goal cushion afforded them the ability to play with a slightly looser structure than Dortmund's fairly rigid 3-4-3.

A second shot on target from the Bundesliga side arrived courtesy of Beier on the hour, Courtois again equal to the questions posed of him.

Real Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund Momentum ShiftOpta by Stats Perform

With eight duels attempted, Julian Ryerson could at least hold his head high too despite his side making no headway on the scoreboard.

Dortmund had to take the game to Real, and a collective possession stat of 54.1% saw to it that they were doing just that. More passes attempted (450 to 397), more dribbles made (11 to 10) and more crosses attempted (14 to 13) still counted for nothing afte ran hour.

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Five minutes later, Kylian Mbappe finally made his entrance alongside Luka Modric and Dani Ceballos, and the Croatian almost brought the stadium to its feet with a shot on target. How the Madridistas would've loved to see that go in as Los Blancos turned the screw in the latter stages.

75% possession in the latter stages of the game meant that Real had the freedom to knock the ball around with consummate ease.

Three goals in three minutes

Beier gave Dortmund the briefest hope of a comeback with a consolation goal in the 92nd minute, the first Courtois had conceded in more than four hours, but rather than capitalise, they allowed Real to go straight back down the other end and score via a spectacular Mbappe volley.

Incredibly, directly from that kick-off, Dean Huijsen was given a straight red card for pulling back Guirassy, the Dortmund striker burying the resulting spot-kick for the third goal in three minutes of injury-time.

Still there was time for Courtois to produce a world-class save to stop a last-kick-of-the-game equaliser and the prospect of another 30 minutes of entertainment.