Real Madrid 1-1 Al-Hilal: Los Blancos start poorly as Valverde penalty miss

Federico Valverde missed a late penalty as Xabi Alonson's first competitive game in charge of Real Madrid ended in a disappointing 1-1 draw with Al-Hilal at the Club World Cup.    

Match Report

Mohammed Al Qahtani was judged to have caught Fran Garcia in the face late in Wednesday's Group H clash at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium but Bono denied the Uruguay midfielder from 12 yards.

Gonzalo Garcia had earlier put Madrid into an undeserved lead but Ruben Neves equalised  from the penalty spot before the break, with Al-Hilal – playing for the first time under Simone Inzaghi – missing several presentable chances to win the game. 

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was denied by Thibaut Courtois prior to Marcos Leonardo wastefully skewing wide from six yards and Renan Lodi slotting home, only to be denied by the offside flag.Garcia sweeping home Rodrygo's excellent ball across the face of goal from a swift counter put Madrid ahead against the run of play, but Neves levelled from the spot after Raul Asencio clumsily felled Leonardo.

Madrid twice nearly restored their lead immediately after the restart with Arda Guler hitting the crossbar then Bono saving off the line from Garcia after Vinicius Jr played a delicious dink back into the danger zone.

Leonardo blazed over the top inside the area in a great chance for Al-Hilal and when referee Facundo Tello harshly pointed to the spot after a trip to the pitch side monitor for Al Qahtani's perceived infringement it looked like it would prove costly, but Bono came to his side's rescue with a great dive to his right and then made another great stop from Garcia deep into injury time.

Data Debrief: Madrid need to up their game to extend Club World Cup record

Under the tournaments previous guise, Madrid won the Club World Cup more than another team – winning the tournament on six occasions (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2024).One of those came against Al-Hilal in a 5-3 triumph in 2022 and before this encounter the Saudi outfit had lost both of their two matches against European opponents at the Club World Cup (also a 1-0 defeat versus Chelsea in 2021).   Madrid were disjointed for much of this encounter and it took until the 74th minute for Los Blancos to register their first corner of an underwhelming performance.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

3' Garcia concedes a foul by the box, but Milinkovic-Savic’s free-kick is blocked!

10' Leonardo shot just wide from close range after a great Al Hilal move!

14' Lodi collides with Rodyrgo in the box while contesting for an aerial ball!

20' Vinicius Jr finds Garcia on the edge of the box, but he miss-kicks his shot!

34' GOAL! García slices the ball into the net! Real Madrid 1-0 Al-Hilal Saudi FC

41' Penalty Goal! Neves sends Courtois wrong way! Real Madrid 1-1 Al-Hilal Saudi FC

48' Alexander-Arnold's cross is overhit, and Al-Hilal clear again!

67' Alexander-Arnold replaced by Vazquez. Rodrygo is replaced by Diaz!

92' Penalty Missed!  (Federico Valverde)

Line-ups

Real Madrid XI: Courtois, Alexander-Arnold, Valverde, Fran García, Tchouameni, Vinicius, Rodrygo, Bellingham, Gonzalo García, Raúl Asencio, Dean Huijsen

Subs: Modric, Vazquez, Ceballos, Brahim, Lunin, Güler, Mario Martín, Víctor Muñoz, Youssef Enríquez, Chema Andrés, Fran González, Jacobo Ramón, Jesús Fortea, Diego Aguado

Al-Hilal Saudi FC XI: Koulibaly, Cancelo, Bounou, Salem Al Dawsari, Neves, Milinkovic-Savic, Malcom, Lodi, Nasser Al-Dawsari, Hassan Tambakti, Marcos Leonardo

Subs: Mohammed Kanoo, Ali Albulayhi, Ali Lajami, Mohammed Al-Yami, Abdullah Al-Hamdan, Khalifah Al-Dawsari, Hamad Al-Yami, Khalid Al-Ghannam, Moteb Al-Harbi, Musab Al-Juwayr, Mohammed Al-Qahtani, Ahmad Aburasyin, Abdulaziz Al-Hadhood