Club World Cup: Without Mbappé and without shining, Real Madrid struggles in its opening competition

A difficult return to the club. For their first match of the Club World Cup on Wednesday evening in Miami against Al-Hilal, Real Madrid , without Kylian Mbappé who was ill , were held to a draw by the Riyadh team ( 1-1 ). Xabi Alonso 's players - who was playing his very first match on the Madrid bench - appeared listless and apathetic against Simone Inzaghi 's team, enterprising and daring.

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The White House, who had to do without their feverish No. 9 on Tuesday, struggled more than anything against the Saudi Arabian runners-up. More incisive and technically precise from the start, the Crescent players put the Merengues' midfield and defense to the test, as they were far too defensive. But, as usual, Real Madrid played... like Real Madrid.

Completely against the run of play, the young Spanish striker Gonzalo Garcia (21 years old) opened the scoring after a lethal counterattack (34th), allowing the Casa Blanca to take control of the game, while Al-Hilal seemed confident and sure of their strength. Barely five minutes later, Ruben Neves came to convert the penalty collected by his teammate Marcos Leonardo, following an involuntary handball by Raul Asencio in his box (41st). A few minutes before the break, the two teams were (logically) equal.

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Real Madrid, who were counting on their new summer signings Trent Alexander-Arnold (ex-Liverpool) and Dean Huijsen (ex-Bournemouth) - who hardly shone in this match, like Vinicius Jr - struggled to be dangerous and create interesting opportunities in the second half. Federico Valverde even earned a penalty in the dying seconds of the match, but was denied by Al-Hilal's Moroccan goalkeeper, Yassine Bounou, a specialist in this area.

Xabi Alonso has his work cut out for him to reshape this team, which appears quite dependent on its top scorer, Kylian Mbappé. Madrid, beyond the quick transitions they master well, will have to work on their team play to be able to do without (also) the French captain, who is expected to return for Real Madrid's second match on Sunday against Pachuca.

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