Real Madrid wins its fourth Intercontinental Championship with a landslide
Ancelotti’s men, the most successful coach in the club’s history, beat Pachuca very easily with goals from Mbappé, Rodrygo and Vinícius
MADRID, 18 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid beat the Mexican CF Pachuca 2-0 this Wednesday to win the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, in a match played in Lusail in which the Madrid team did not need an overwhelming version to win thanks to the goals of Kylian Mbappé, Rodrygo Goes and Vinícius Júnior, this one from a penalty.
After a somewhat gray start and without offensive clarity, Carlo Ancelotti’s team used the connection between Jude Bellingham, Vinícius Júnior and Kylian Mbappé, who played 60 minutes after his injury, so that the Frenchman scored the first on the stroke of half-time. Already in the second half, it was 2-0 with a beautiful shot from Rodrygo that gave the whites much more peace of mind.
The finishing touch was the 3-0, the work of the Madrid player’s ‘7’ penalty, which left a Mexican team who did not take advantage of their opportunities and denoted the fatigue of the two games prior to this final. Thus, the Madrid team signs an outstanding 2024 with its fourth Intercontinental Championship – the most successful team in this tournament – and five titles in the calendar year.
The staging of Ancelotti’s men was far below expectations, without control of the ball, proposing a very slow and tedious pace and without connecting with their most dangerous men in attack. In fact, the first chance fell on the side of the Mexicans, with a long shot from Luis Rodríguez that was poisoned and forced Thibaut Courtois to stretch, who was the best of the whites at the start of the match with a couple of good interventions.
Real Madrid only managed to stretch themselves with very difficult long balls for Mbappé and Vinícius against a successful Mexican defense. And with that roar, Pachuca claimed a penalty on Deossa from Fede Valverde that neither the referee nor the VAR considered such. As the minutes passed, the quality and the difference in level began to prevail, with Real Madrid gaining more ground, although harmless in the first half hour – no shots on goal in the first 30 minutes.
The Mexican team was taking steps back and giving more space to the Real Madrid forwards, who still, however, were unable to find the key to test goalkeeper Carlos Moreno. Until, just around the break, the Bellingham-Vinícius-Mbappé connection bore fruit. The Englishman already served the Brazilian inside the area, who dribbled with a bicycle past the goalkeeper to serve up the 1-0 to the Frenchman.
That first goal did a lot of damage to a more competitive Pachuca and without the freshness of the start, against a more comfortable Real Madrid and with the verve that it didn’t have at the beginning. Already in the second half, as after the initial whistle, it was the Mexicans, in Odessa boots, who had the first, but the gap between the two teams opened even more with Rodrygo Goes’ 2-0.
The Brazilian scored a great goal out of his hat, shooting at the long post from the front after two very good cuts. With some suspense, since the referee had to go to the VAR to review a possible interference by Bellingham on the goalkeeper. The whites, closer to the title.
Unlike with the 1-0, the second Real Madrid goal suited Pachuca better, who enjoyed their best minutes already far away on the scoreboard, even worrying Courtois’ goal, especially with a free kick and a header from Salomón Rondon. This did not please Ancelotti, who sought more control by bringing on Dani Ceballos and Luka Modric.
Without many more dangerous actions, Real Madrid completely sealed the final 3-0, with Vinícius’s penalty, after the referee, through VAR, awarded a penalty on Lucas Vázquez. The merengue team complied and beat an inferior rival, who could have had their reward in the form of a goal, but it was disallowed for offside.
TECHNICAL SHEET.
–RESULT: REAL MADRID, 3 – CF PACHUCA, 0 (1-0, at halftime).
–ALIGNMENTS.
REAL MADRID: Courtois; Lucas Vázquez (Asensio, min.88), Tchouameni, Rüdiger, Fran García; Camavinga (Ceballos, min.62), Valverde, Bellingham (Guler, min.88); Rodrygo (Modric, min.70), Mbappé (Brahim, min.62) and Vinícius.
CF PACHUCA: Moreno; Luis Rodríguez (Sánchez, min.75), Barreto, Micolta, Bryan González; Pedraza, Montiel; Deossa (Hernández, min.88), Alan Bautista (Mena, min.75), Idrissi (Domínguez, min.88); Rondon.
–GOALS:
1-0, min.37: Kylian Mbappé.
2-0, min.52: Rodrygo Goes.
3-0, min.84: Vinícius Júnior, penalty.
–REFEREE: Jesús Valenzuela (VEN). Pedraza was cautioned (min.51) by CF Pachuca.
–ESTADIO: Lusail Iconic Stadium.