Spanish Giants Real Madrid extended their dominance in world football with a fifth FIFA Club World Cup title after an eight-goal thriller against Al-Hilal on Saturday.
Los Blancos were comfortable 5-3 winners as they won the 100th trophy in their illustrious history.
The Carlo Ancelotti-led side had club captain Karim Benzema back in the starting lineup at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium after he missed their semifinal match against Egypt’s Al Ahly on Wednesday due to injury.
The French striker showed his quality early on, as his defence-splitting pass helped set up Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr. to put the European champions ahead within the first 15 minutes.
Five minutes later, Valverde capitalised on a number of misplaced passes in Al Hilal’s defence to double Madrid’s lead as his deflected strike beat goalkeeper Abdullah Al-Mayouf.
Malian striker Moussa Marega halved the deficit for the Asian champions in the 26th minute but Benzema and Vinicius combined again for Madrid’s third goal, nine minutes after the restart, with the latter scoring a simple tap-in off a sublime cross from the Brazilian winger.
🏆 @realmadrid, CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD FOR THE FIFTH TIME! 👏#ClubWC
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) February 11, 2023
Valverde got his second of the game two minutes before the hour mark to make it four for Los Blancos, but former Atletico Madrid forward Luciano Vietto got Al-Hilal’s second of the game.
Vinicius capped off his spectacular performance with another goal in the 69th minute, while Vietto got his brace ten minutes later to ensure it remained at just a two-goal deficit.
