Real Madrid beat Pachuca at Club World Cup despite red card: Live updates and reaction – The Athletic – The New York Times

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10-man Real Madrid have beaten Pachuca 3-1 to record their first win of the 2025 Club World Cup.
The Spanish side lost centre-back Raul Asencio in just the seventh minute after his denial of a clear goalscoring opportunity for Salomon Rondon, but still found a way to take a 2-0 lead into half-time.
Jude Bellingham finished brilliantly in the 35th minute before Arda Guler added a second just before the interval. Fede Valverde wrapped up the victory in the 70th minute, latching onto Brahim Diaz's superb cross.
Pachuca had plenty of chances throughout the game and finally breached Thibaut Courtois' defences via Elias Montiel's deflected effort.
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Jude Bellingham has been playing with a long-term shoulder injury, which has seen him wear a brace to support the injury while playing.
Such is his importance to Real Madrid that he has had to play through without having surgery but that looks set to change.
Speaking in the mixed zone after the game to media including The Athletic's Mario Cortegana, he confirmed a fix for the complaint is on the agenda this summer.
“Surgery on my shoulder, it'll be a couple of days after. Hopefully we get to the final and I'll get the surgery.
“I'm sick of playing in the brace, especially in this heat. It'll be nice to have my old body, my old shoulder back so I'm really looking forward to it.”
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That result was Xabi Alonso's first win as Real Madrid boss — an important milestone as well as a crucial result in the context of their group.
Fran Garcia has been speaking to DAZN after the match and revealed the mood inside the dressing room after that result.
“These are the first three points which give us more confidence to keep going well in the competition,” he said. "We didn't start the way we wanted. But the team's response was very good.
“The work and evolution we are doing will bring results, but it is not something that happens overnight. But we are all working together, committed as a team, which you saw today.
“The feelings are positive, we have to just keep working ahead of the coming games.”
A big win for Real Madrid, that one.
After a disappointing opening game, they have bounced back with a win that has taken them to the top of Group C.
They might finish the day second, though, as RB Salzburg are in action in a half hour's time against Al Hilal.
Despite the scoreline, there are positives for Pachuca to take from that result, not least the performance of their leading man Salomon Rondon.
Madrid are always going to be capable of unlocking teams with a moment of magic but for long spells of the game the Mexican outfit had momentum — and not by luck.
They deserved to get on the scoresheet, as they did late in the game, but this performance should be encouraging for their final group game.
A fun competition is emerging if Jude Bellingham's post-match comments to DAZN are anything to go by — he is competing with his brother Jobe to see who can score the most Club World Cup goals.
After Jobe netted for Borussia Dortmund yesterday, the pressure was on for Jude to make his mark for Madrid and he duly did so by bagging their opener.
Not a bad little rivalry to spur you on.
💬 “Everyone has been telling me that he (Jobe) is better than me now because he scored yesterday. So now it's 1-1 and we'll see what happens for the rest of the tournament!”
He scored Real Madrid's first goal and Jude Bellingham was as important to the team performance as ever.
Here's what he had to stay when chatting to DAZN after the match:
“We stayed together well. Raul (Asencio) made a bit of a mistake in the game, it's fine, he's young and it will happen. It's important to see how the team comes around each other to stay together and stay in the game against a really good side.
“Thibaut was brilliant. That's why he's there but we want to make him less busy next time. He's the best in the world for a reason. He saved us.
“The ball went wide (for the first goal), we worked it really well. Fran (Garcia) went wide with the ball, picked me out really well and it all happened so quickly that it's hard to explain it sometimes.”
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Xabi Alonso has been speaking to the media and gave his thoughts on two players involved in the big moments of this match in Thibaut Courtois and Raul Asencio.
Here's what he had to say while chatting to DAZN post-match:
💬 “We are so happy that we have Thibaut. In many games he has shown he is so reliable.
“Offensively today we had to rely on one player because we had one player less, it became really intense for us but we defended well and I'm pleased with the performance with one less player.
“We will have time to talk (to Asencio). He needs to learn from experience, this one early in the game you need to let him take the chance and not bring him down. He will learn from this one for the future.”
Elias Montiel impressed in this match and the 19-year-old got his reward for an impressive performance when he drilled a low shot past Thibaut Courtois.
What a grand stage to put in a good performance, too. He was a constant threat and was good value for his goal.
Opta stats tell us Real Madrid have attempted 27 shots in their two matches under new head coach Xabi Alonso.
That is their second lowest tally after the first two games with the same manager in all competitions since at least 2009/10 (Julen Lopetegui, with 24).
Here’s how we rate the Pachuca players after that second half:
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How about this for a photo — Valverde celebrates his goal for Madrid along with Vinicius Junior and Brahim Diaz.
A move and a goal well worthy of a look to the heavens.
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What a game! As we digest that match, here’s how we rate Real Madrid’s players:
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Valverde was absolutely everywhere and got his reward with a wall-taken goal in the second half.
So often Madrid’s star player in games this season, he drifted infield and caused all sorts of problems for Pachuca going forward.
A lovely surging run to get on the end of Brahim Diaz’s chipped pass made for a great finish for Madrid’s third goal.
He gets our (unofficial) vote for player of the match.
At 20 years and 57 days, Arda Guler has become the youngest player to score 10 goals for Real Madrid in all competitions since at least 2009/10, surpassing Vinicius Junior's previous record in 2020 (20 years and 80 days old).
Thanks to our friends at Opta for that stat.
FT Real Madrid 3-1 Pachuca
And there it is!
The final whistle blows at Bank of America Stadium and Real Madrid's first win of the 2025 Club World Cup is confirmed.
And that is also Xabi Alonso's first win as Madrid manager — a good day out for him and his players, despite the early red card.
90+4' Real Madrid 3-1 Pachuca
Rudiger and veteran Gustavo Cabral tussle inside the box as they wait for a cross, a bit of holding, a little push, and Cabral sort of flicks his arm out in a ‘get off’ motion.
Cabral's fingers accidentally sort of brush relatively close to Rudiger's face, who goes down dramatically.
Anyway, no foul and play continues.
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90+3' Real Madrid 3-1 Pachuca
Five minutes of added time. Three of them served.
89' Real Madrid 3-1 Pachuca
Time ticking towards 90 minutes.
Pachuca pushing for a goal that would make it an interesting period of added time…
Arda Guler as a starter and both Brahim Diaz and academy player Victor Munoz from the bench ahead of Rodrygo Goes today.

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