Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso said on Saturday that he looked forward to seeing how his new team measures the European champions Paris Saint-Germain after the parties had set up a semi-final confrontation at the Club World Cup.
Real Beat Borussia Dortmund with 3-2 in their last-like draw in the Metlife Stadium, a few hours after PSG Bayern Munich defeated 2-0 in Atlanta.
The Spanish giants and the French side will now collide in the semi -final in the Metlife Stadium at the Stadium of the Metlife on Wednesday, and those who appear the victor will be seen as favorites to continue and win the competition.
“Today we played against a team that went far in the Champions League and now we are confronted with the winners, so this will be a small step for us in this new project that we are starting,” said Alonso, who replaced Carlo Ancelotti as a real coach just before the tournament.
PSG, coached by Luis Enrique, succeeded Madrid as European champions after hammering Inter Milan 5-0 in the Champions League final in Munich at the end of May.
“They play at a very high level since the last 16 of the Champions League and it will be a very big challenge for us.”
Real seemed to cruise for a comfortable victory against Dortmund after goals in the first 20 minutes by the young striker Gonzalo Garcia and left back Fran Garcia.
But Maximilian Beerier pulled one back for Dortmund in a stopping time, so that a remarkable late flurry was fueled that Kylian Mbappe saw a overhead kick and then Serhou Guirassy scored a penalty for the Germans after Dean Huijsen was sent.
“We can do better, but in general it is a very serious performance and now we have to take the positive points from this,” says Alonso, who will have to do without Center-Back Huijsen against PSG because of the suspension.
“The game has just ended, so I am not thinking about the semi -final. I will have peace for a few hours, but it is clearly not good news to have lost Huijsen.”
Mbappe pushes to start
Alonso may now have a selection force of a different type of attack, where Mbappe is used – Saturday as a replacement – insist on a first start of the tournament against his old club after overcoming illness.
“He is still not perfect, not at 100 percent, but he improves every day,” Alonso said about the France -Superster after he had scored his 44th goal for the club since he had signed PSG a year ago.
Gonzalo Garcia has meanwhile had a Fine Club World Cup with the 21-year-old striker who recorded four goals in five performances in the back of a productive campaign with the second team of Madrid, Castilla, Castilla.
“Yesterday (Friday) I said that Gonzalo made the best of his chance and he did it again today,” said Alonso.
“He has the characteristics of a goalheader, he had a great season with Castilla, scored 25 goals and he is in the right place here.”
In the meantime, Dortmund -Coach Niko Kovac insisted that he was satisfied with the performance of his team at the tournament despite their defeat, because they can now take a vacation before they prepare for the start of the next German Bundesliga season.
“I want to congratulate Real Madrid with going through. It is a well -deserved victory. We were too slow, the circumstances were not perfect, and we were not good enough, even if we were much better in the second half,” he said.
“In general, my team had a good tournament. We have shown our qualities and it is not a failure if you go home after a defeat against Real Madrid,” he added.
Comments