World Club Cup: Real Madrid beat Al Ahly to reach final

Rabat, Feb 9 (IANS) Real Madrid will play Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal in the final of the World Club Cup here on Saturday after beating Egyptian outfit Al Ahly 4-1 in the second semifinal on Wednesday night.

A first-half goal from Vinicius Jr and strikes from Fede Valverde at the start of the second period and Rodrygo and Arribas in injury time gave Carlo Ancelotti’s men the win against a rival that had the European Champions under pressure in the closing minutes, reports Xinhua news agency.

Real Madrid went into the game without Karim Benzema, Thibaut Courtois, Ferland Mendy and Eder Militao and had Marcos Asensio added to their injury list ahead of kick-off with a slight muscle problem.

Madrid controlled the first half, but apart from an effort that Vinicius flicked wide from a narrow-angle with his right foot, the Al Ahly defense was able to control them with relative ease.

The Brazilian did put Madrid ahead four minutes before halftime after taking advantage of a defensive error to clip the ball over Mohammed El Shenawy in the Al Ahly goal.

Valverde doubled Madrid’s lead at the start of the second half when he followed up a rebound from Rodrygo’s shot.

Al Ahly got a penalty in the 65th minute when El Shatat was brought down by Eduardo Camavinga, allowing Ali Maaloul to score from the penalty spot.

Luka Modric saw a penalty saved by El Shenawy after Vinicius went down in the Al Ahly area, but Rodrygo assured the win in injury time after a flick from Dani Ceballos. Arribas added a fourth in the eighth minute of injury time.

–IANS

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