Real, domination and then final suffering: Dortmund beaten 3-2, semi-final with PSG
W ith all due respect to Chelsea and Fluminense, this will be the most intriguing semifinal of the Club World Cup. Real Madrid, who pass with a thrill, after dominating until the 90th minute, joins PSG in Wednesday's challenge: an all-European duel that puts the final at stake, pits the last two winners of the Champions League against each other and offers other tasty confrontations. The Asturian Luis Enrique facing the Basque Xabi Alonso, the school of northern Spain that wants to rule the world. And then Mbappè against his former friends, very former, for the poisonous farewell of a year ago.
Real Madrid didn't seem to need him to get rid of Dortmund: but when he came on, Mbappé showed that he was improving in condition and scored the 3-1, his first hurrah in this tournament. It seemed like the end of the match, but in the 98th minute Guirassy made it 3-2 from a penalty (Huijsen was sent off) and at the last moment Courtois denied Sabitzer the 3-3: it would have been a sensational move. The beauty of Madrid was more visible in the first half, when it went ahead with the two Garcias, Gonzalo and Fran. Borussia was prepared for the new face of Real Madrid, because "Xabi Alonso plays like he did in Leverkusen, only with other players", Kovac had said. But since he knew the coach who won the Bundesliga last year, he couldn't help but expect surprises. Because even at Bayer, the Basque didn't have fixed systems, despite the prevalence of the three-man defense. In this quarter, Madrid instead presents itself with four, Tchouameni in front of the defense flanked by Arda Güler, another new position, and the Turk is delicious in dribbling and in assists for the first and third centers. If Vinicius and Gonzalo Garcia get closer and spread out in front, Bellingham floats behind the strikers but Valverde is also on his line. It would be a sort of 4-2-2-2 but it is Valverde who provides more variations. The captain can also act as a midfielder, with a three-man midfield, or help the defensive line. In the second half he also becomes a full-back.
The mark of the coach's German past is still visible in the second goal, with a low assist from Alexander-Arnold for Fran Garcia, from one winger to the other as if they were Frimpong and Grimaudo of the champion Leverkusen. The 1-0 after 10' instead testifies to the good form of Gonzalo Garcia, executioner of Juve.
The duel between the Bellingham brothers was cancelled due to the disqualification of the youngest, Jobe, who moved to Borussia in early June. But the Germans' faults, before their final awakening, cannot be justified by this absence. They suffer from Madrid's verticalizations and are caught short in too many actions. Brandt is the emblem of the yellow-and-black confusion: the captain is more inside on the left next to Gross and Sabitzer, who is an attacking midfielder, modeling the Borussia system out of obligation in 5-3-2. At the start of the second half Kovac then tries to shake up his team with a triple substitution and it is above all Beier (for Adeyemi) who gives more substance. And to score the 2-1. It seemed only statistics, instead from that shot Borussia almost equalizes.
La Gazzetta dello Sport
