Real Madrid 3-2 Dortmund: Xabi Alonso's team meet PSG in 'semis'

The 2025 Club World Cup already has its four semi-finalists. As expected, Real Madrid delivered in their match against Borussia Dortmund, rounding off a victory with suffering at the end (3-2) at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Xabi Alonso's team confirmed the good image shown in the second half against Juventus (1-0), with very effective pressure in the opponent's half and the inspiration of their new goalscorer, the youth player Gonzalo García, in the opponent's area.

With the victory, Madrid gets among the best four in the tournament organized by FIFA and, now, will face Paris Saint-Germain in 'semis'. On Saturday, early in the morning, Luis Enrique's team left Bayern Munich behind (2-0) in a great match in Atlanta.

Despite finishing the match with two sent off, PSG showed the mettle of the current European champion. The goals of Desiré Doué and Ousmane Dembélé, the latter in added time, sealed a dramatic victory for the Gauls.

Madrid paved the way for their qualification in just 20 minutes

Real, on the other hand, had much fewer problems to get rid of a Dortmund that came from eliminating Monterrey (1-0). Gonzalo García opened the scoring in the 10th minute, with another remarkable finish after a cross from Arda Güler from the left.

The '30' appeared totally alone between the centre-backs and finished with a touch in front of goalkeeper Kobel, thus reaching 4 goals in the World Cup. Despite the early advantage, the 'merengues' continued to attack and, in the 20th minute, the sentence came at the feet of Fran García.

The full-back took advantage of Borussia's defensive passivity to enter completely alone from the left, blasting Kobel after a cross pass from Gonzalo. In a flash, the Whites sentenced the match, although the Germans had a couple of clear opportunities to discount in the second half.

However, Niko Kovac's team paid dearly for their defensive fragility and the poor performance of a predictable attack. Xabi took advantage of the second half to give more minutes to Kylian Mbappé, who is still far from his physical fullness after the strong viral condition that prevented him from playing the group stage. The '9' lost several kilos and looks much thinner, with a couple of gears below his usual speed.

Crazy ending in added time and sensitive 'merengue' loss

Madrid seemed closer to a rout, but Maximian Beier discounted in the 90+2' after a bad clearance from Rüdiger. The Whites reacted with another goal from Mbappé in the following action, after an acrobatic finish preceded by an offside that seemed clear.

Everything seemed defined, but Dean Huijsen committed an absurd penalty on Serhou Guirassy, holding him by the shoulder to prevent him from finishing in front of Courtois. The referee sent off the centre-back and the Guinean discounted from the penalty spot.

In the last play of the match, with a 'merengue' defence in shock, Courtois made an incredible save to prevent Sabitzer's goal that would have forced extra time. The victory ended up being bittersweet, as the Whites lose their best centre-back against Paris.

• 👉 You can follow the coverage of the Club World Cup 2025 in detail at FCBN

This is how the semi-finals of the 2025 Club World Cup will be played

Now, Madrid will go for a place in the World Cup final against PSG, next Wednesday at the same MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. On Tuesday, Chelsea and Fluminense will define the first finalist in the stadium that will also host the final on Sunday, July 13.

Chelsea and Paris arrive as favorites to the semi-final, although Spaniards and Brazilians will be very dangerous rivals. The 'Fluzao' has been the surprise, eliminating in the quarter-finals an Al Hilal that came from taking down the other great favorite for the title, Manchester City.

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