Xabi Alonso believes that Real Madrid's victory over Pachuca at the Club World Cup will give his team the confidence that they can perform without Kylian Mbappe.
Alonso took his first victory since he replaced Carlo Ancelotti as a 10-man Madrid triumphed 3-1 against Pachuca to go to the top of the H-classification group.
Jude Bellingham and Arda Guler gave Madrid a comfortable lead during the break, despite the fact that Raul Asencio was sent away in the seventh minute for a last man wrong on Salomon Rondon.
But the Alonso team was able to move clearly through Captain Federico Valverde 20 minutes in time, with Elias Montiel delivering a late comfort for the Mexican side.
Madrid tried 27 shots in their two games with Alonso, their second lowest count after the first two games with the same manager in all competitions since at least 2009-10 under Julen Lopetegui (24).
That was not helped by the absence of Mbappe, who was not involved with Madrid on Sunday after he was admitted to the hospital earlier this week, although the French International has since been fired.
Nevertheless, Alonso believes that Madrid's victory without their star striker and with a man less to a large part of the competition is a solid foundation for his team to build.
“Certainly, psychological, mental, and the boost is really important to build on this victory,” said Alonso. “I think we can take a lot of positives, but we have to continue.
“It's great to be back in Madrid and to be the coach of this club. It takes time to get what we want, but we feel good in the first phases.”
Alonso was present to discuss the early dismissal of Asencio, with the young Spaniard who has passed a difficult start to his club World Cup campaign so far.
He was indeed the first European player to be sent and gave a fine in the same edition of the FIFA Club World Cup since at least 2010.
“He is sad, disappointed, but these are things we should learn from,” said Alonso.
“It is better to admit one goal than to stay with ten. Asencio should not have made that mistake. We will talk to him.”
The Madrid boss also praised the Display of Valverde, where the midfielder reached Madrid's ultimate goal with a sliding finish of the inviting cross of Brahim Diaz.
Valverde also ended the match with team -high totals for interceptions (two) and Schoten (two, level with Bellingham, Guler and Vinicius Junior), while only Vinicus (20) played more in the last third than the Uruguayan (12, level with Fran Garcia).
Alonso compared Valverde with his former teammate of Liverpool Steven Gerrard and expects his captain to lead the indictment of Madrid to another club World Cup title after he had overcome his penalty-miss against Al-Hilal in their opening group competition.
“Valverde is a Steven Gerrard profile. He reminds me of Gerrard, with his runs, because of how he arrives, because of the profile,” said Alonso.
“I am very happy to train him and for him for the goal. I think all coaches would like a Fede Valverde in the team.
“You can see the passion and grit that Fede has in the celebration. The bad taste is removed from his mouth.”