JAKARTA - Real Madrid failed to win when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Al Hilal in their inaugural matchday at the 2025 Club World Cup. The Group H match was held at Hard Rock Stadium on Thursday.
This match is also a debut for each coach of the two teams. Xabi Alonso is in charge of Real Madrid, while Al Hilal is handled by Simone Inzaghi.
Real Madrid took the lead through Gonzalo Garcia's goal before Al Hilal equalized through Ruben Neves' goal.
This result makes both teams share one point in the early Group H standings, as reported by the official FIFA website.
Madrid showed many experiments in the line-up, including Trent Alexander-Arnold's debut.
Al Hilal first threatened through Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's free-kick and Marcos Leonardo's chances early in the game, but their finish went wide.
Madrid struggled to find the rhythm of their game early in the game. On the other hand, Al Hilal appeared aggressive and attacked through their two wings, even breaking into Courtois' goal through Renan Lodi. However, the goal was ruled out for offside.
Madrid finally scored in the 34th minute through young Gonzalo Garcia. Rodrygo's cross was met by Garcia's chip which outwitted Bono to put Los Blancos 1-0 up.
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However, that advantage didn't last long. Raul Asencio fouled Marcos Leonardo in the penalty box, and Ruben Neves calmly equalized from the spot in the 41st minute.
Ahead of the break, Salem Al Dawsari came close to turning things around. However, his low shot slightly deviated.
The first half ended 1-1 with Al Hilal appearing more dominant in possession of the ball. Madrid responded by making a change, Xabi entered Arda Guler and changed the formation to three defenders.
Several opportunities were created through the actions of Vinicius Jr and Garcia, but Bono appeared alert under the crossbar.
Alexander-Arnold showed his quality in helping attack and defense before being replaced in the 65th minute.
The tempo of the match began to decline due to hot weather, marked by a rolling break in the 70th minute.
Madrid replaced Bellingham with Modric to control midfield. However, until the last minute, they struggled to penetrate the Al Hilal tight defense that piled up players in the penalty box.
The drama occurred in the 89th minute when Fran Garcia was brought down by Mohammed Al Qahtani in the forbidden box. After a VAR review, the referee pointed to the spot.
However, Valverde's execution was denied by Bono who jumped to the bottom right side of the goal. The 1-1 score lasted until the game ended. This was reported by Antara.
Lineup Of Players
Real Madrid (4-3-3):Courtois, Alexander-Arnold, Asencio, Huijsen, Fran Garcia, Tchouameni, Valverde, Bellingham, Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo, Gonzalo Garcia.
Al Hilal (4-2-3-1): Bounou, Cancelo, Koulibaly, Al-Bulayhi, Renan Lodi, Neves, Milinkovic-Savic, Al-Dawsari, Malcom, Marcos Leonardo, Salem Al-Dawsari.
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