In many ways, the word choice of Xabi Alonso on Tuesday evening also applies to Trent Alexander-Arnold.
“The moment of truth has arrived. Tomorrow the rock and roll starts, “Alonso was charismatically, when he was asked about the identity of Real Madrid among him.
Less than a week after the official formalities in Spain, the moment of truth also arrived for Alexander-Arnold when he made his debut in the whole of Los Blancos.
The reality is that there was small rock and roll of him against an al-Hilal side that Madrid was expected to send, but they were held to a draw by the Saudi Arab side after the 90th minute of Federico Valverde was saved by Bono.
In mitigation, Simone Inzaghi's side was much more comfortable in the heat Miami, but this was a Madrid version that showed more questions than answers for Alonso.
For Alexander-Arnold, who lacked the confidence that we were so used to a Liverpool shirt, it was also an early reminder that it is not as easy as just putting on another shirt and doing what he has done before.
From the moment he got on the field for his walk-on, he looked somewhat awe for the whole situation and did not want to set a foot wrong.
While Jude Bellingham went through his expressive pre-match rituals, Alexander-Arnold was looking at someone who is five years younger than he and desperately waiting for the action to start.
When it did, that embarrassment translated into the first half in the first half when he rarely vast ahead of the way he keeps. Perhaps it was because he did not want to be caught defensively and it was clear after the break that he was told by Alonso to be more expressive. The 20 minutes after the break was much encouraging before he was replaced in the 65th minute in circumstances that were far from ideal for football.
When Madrid arrived at the hard rock stage at temperatures of more than 30 degrees and in a severe humidity of 65 percent, the three largest cheers were reserved for Alexander-Arnold, Alonso and the Veteran Luka Modric.
It was an indication of the global status that Alexander-Arnold already has.
Given the weather, the Madrid players were exempt from wearing their usual formal clothing and each of them walked in with shirts with a short sleeved baseball style.
Slick, to say the least and of course Madrid led with the image of Alexander-Arnold on their global social channels.
For the context, they have exaggerated the following (176 million) from Liverpool (47 million) on Instagram.
On the field there was never really any doubt as to whether Trent would make his debut here, with Dani Carvajal wounded and Madrid Liverpool had paid a fee of £ 8.4 million, so that the 26-year-old could play in this competition.
Alonso emphasized pre-match that the Madrid team at the end of the tournament would be much better than the team against Al Hilal.
Inside there was also an early message for Alexander-Arnold, who made an impression through all accounts in training on their Palm Beach base further the east coast. So much so that the Spanish sports newspaper Diario as explained: “It is clear, a galactico is signed.”
That much is clear, but spending time with the Madrid press in recent days has also described how much they are concerned about his defensive skills.
They know well enough, after seeing Madrid recording Liverpool seven times since Alexander-Arnold made his debut.
The same outlet wrote that he “bears a status that casts a long shade” and describes it as his “Achilles whole.” Since his debut in 2016, he is the most dribble defender in the Premier League.
“He has the qualities to have a big impact with the ball, but he is also a defender and he has to defend,” Alonso maintained.
On paper this was the most successful European side against the most successful Asian side, but in a far from full stadium – not helped by the kick -off of the week of 3 p.m. – it was already – Hilal who made the stronger start and did not look like the brutal heat.
They had eight shots in the first half hour and had left Renan Lodi's goal to be offside after a relocation of the right flank that Alexander-Arnold saw his husband losing sight of.
When they had the ball, the right side of Madrid was the target, with the combination of Rodrygo and Alexander-Arnold hardly looked the strongest possession.
The water break, however, came to Alonso at the perfect moment, where Alexander-Arnold played a role in a brutal counterattack in Madrid who saw Rodrygo Tee Gonzalo Garcia for the opener. But Al-Hilal almost immediately hit back through a penalty from Ruben Neves.
After the break, Madrid came out of the blocks, where Alexander-Arnold operated in a much more advanced role and was able to deliver more crosses before he was pulled out for Lucas Vasquez with 25 minutes to go.
He didn't have a bad game, although it was certainly not a dream debut like Bellingham's in 2023, when the Englishman scored a goal in a Madrid win. But don't forget that Rome was not built one day.