And here is the report:
Thanks for joining me this afternoon/evening. It wasn’t a classic game but at least there were a few goals.
Have a great Christmas/Festivus.
Check back in shortly when the report will be with you.
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Well done, lads.
🏆⚽🌍
— Real Madrid C.F.⚽ (@realmadrid) December 22, 2018
¡CLUB WORLD CUP CHAMPIONS 2018! ¡VAMOS!#RMCWC | #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/fPUfKLBxr8
A lovely finish from Llorente, too, as he showed why he is getting his chance under Solari. He had great energy throughout and get Real Madrid moving up the pitch.
Modric was given all the time in the world to do what he wanted to from start to finish and thoroughly deserved his goal. Benzema will be looking to find his shooting boots once again, as he missed a number of great opportunities.
Full-time: Real Madrid 4-1 Al Ain
The result was never really in doubt. Al Ain did their best but the gulf in quality was too much. Real Madrid really should have scored more but at least Al Ain can tell their families about scoring against the Spanish giants. It’s a third straight Club World Cup for Real Madrid, which is an achievement, in a way.
GOAL! Real Madrid 4-1 Al Ain (Nader, OG, 90+2)
This is better from Vinicius as he gets the other side of the defence and then pulls the ball back, forcing Nader to do something, that thing being kicking the ball into his own net.
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90 mins: Vinicius has certainly watched a lot of Neymar as he tries to dribble past a couple of Al Ain players in the box but instead of defeating them he just throws himself to the ground and appeals for a penalty. He really should have been booked. Grow up, mate.
88 mins: Another free-kick is chucked into the box but on this occasion Courtois comes to claim it, which is exciting.
This is the best game the world has ever seen!
@Will_Unwin Could there be a less interesting or meaningful match being played today? You drew the short straw, my friend.
— Andrew Morrissey (@makifrommadrid) December 22, 2018
GOAL! Real Madrid 3-1 Al Ain (Shiotani, 86)
GAME ON!! A free-kick into the box is flicked over Courtois and into the top corner by Shiotani. What a lovely memory for him.
85 mins: Vinicius is on for Real Madrid, so we can all enjoy seeing if he is the future of football. Fellow Brazilian Casemiro has gone down injured and looks in plenty of pain. No point in risking him considering this game is done.
83 mins: Fair play to Al Ain for getting this far and earning the opportunity to face Real Madrid but the difference in standards is there for all to see. How can they make this tournament more interesting?
81 mins: Just in case there was any doubt, there is no way Al Ain are getting back into this, so instead let’s just watch the procession.
Casemiro is now on, too, just ensure Real Madrid don’t concede three in the next nine minutes. I think it might work Mr Solari.
GOAL! Real Madrid 3-0 Al Ain (Ramos, 79)
Ramos is bored so instigates a counter-attack up the pitch and keeps running into the opposition area but Vazquez’s cross doesn’t make it as far as the centre-back, instead being slid out for a corner. The resulting set-piece from Modric very conveniently lands on his unmarked head right yards from goal and he obligingly puts it into the top corner.
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77 mins: Carvajal chips a pass over the top for Bale but he takes too long, allowing Ahmed to get back and intercept him when through on goal. The Welshman then latches onto the loose ball but Eisa bests him once again.
75 mins: Courtois is forced into his first save of the match after a very long ball over the top from his opposite number makes its way to Caio, who gets the better of Ramos but his shot is straight at the Belgian and the follow-up is volleyed over.
Yahia is now on for Al Ain, which also won’t make any difference.
73 mins: The pace of this game is similar to walking football now. More of this please.
71 mins: More Marcelo news: he chases the ball into the corner, keeps it in play but he ends up in a heap off the pitch and stays down holding his ankle, while Al Ain clear. He is up again and running round.
Kroos is replaced by Ceballos, which is nice.
69 mins: Al Ain look pretty tired and Real Madrid are just knocking it around under absolute no pressure, I suspect Modric will do a handstand in the middle of the pitch sooner or later.
67 mins: Another to add to the list proving Marcelo does not give a toss about this game; he sees the goalkeeper off his line so decides to smash a shot from 50 yards which goes nowhere near the net. Cheers, mate.
Mohamed Abdulrahman is replaced by Amer Abdulrahman, which will also make no difference to the result.
65 mins: Kroos slips the ball down the channel for Bale to latch onto but the Welshman is closed down by Eisa who smothers his shot.
Al Ahbabi is on for Al Ain, which one assumes will change absolutely nothing here.
63 mins: Al Ain’s Ahmed absolutely bloody loves diving into a challenge from 10 yards away. The latest person to make a fool of him is Benzema who sees the defender come and dinks it over his outstretched leg before crossing for Bale who slices his shot wide.
61 mins: Al Ain are yet to have a shot on target, so it seems unlikely that they will be able to score twice.
GOAL! Real Madrid 2-0 Al Ain (Llorente, 59)
Al Ain clear a corner to the edge of the area where Llorente is waiting and he fires a low drive straight into the bottom corner before the goalkeeper has a chance to move. Game over.
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57 mins: Llorente races onto a pass over the top but can’t get the ball under control and goes down under pressure but the referee sees nothing in it.
55 mins: The American referee has a word after some pushing and shoving in the box before Al Ain take a woeful corner along the ground which is smashed clear. It comes straight back but a shot from Yaslem goes out for a throw-in.
53 mins: Bale gets away from the defence down the left and sends a cross right to an onrushing Benzema but he volleys the ball straight into the ground and it bounces a few inches wide. He really should have done better there.
51 mins: Pinball in the box after Modric rides a challenge (he probably should have just gone down for a penalty), then his cross is headed up in the air, allowing Bale to perform a spectacular overhead kick but it goes just over the bar. Real Madrid have upped the tempo after the break as they look to add a crucial second.
49 mins: Bale drives into the box but is held up well by Ahmad, forcing the Welshman to dribble the ball straight out of play, much to his chagrin.
47 mins: Marcelo loses the ball while trying to nutmeg his opponent. The Brazilian isn’t really taking today seriously.
Second-half: Real Madrid 1-0 Al Ain
Here we go again!!
The teams are wandering back out onto the pitch, while Isco heads back to the bench looking miserable as sin.
Real Madrid will be looking to finish this off quite quickly and avoid any added exertion in what has been a pretty simple match so far.
Luka Modric is great.
According to the stats, Real Madrid have enjoyed 70% possession compared to 30% for Al Ain. I would have thought it was more, but hey ho.
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Half-time: Real Madrid 1-0 Al Ain
It has been all Real Madrid in Abu Dhabi, which is no surprise. The only real shocking thing is that it is not more than 1-0. It was a great strike from Modric but they really should have added to it. Needless to say, Al Ain aren’t very good.
Key event
45 mins: Ramos goes into the book for a foul on Caio. He completely misses the ball and instead smashing into the Brazilian to send him off the pitch. No wonder no one likes Ramos.
44 mins: Some lovely football in the box results with Marcelo receiving the ball on the edge of the box but he is dispossessed when he attempts to do a 360.
42 mins: Marcelo is adding to his list of errors here: the latest being taking a throw-in and then standing in an offside position as it is returned to him. Wake up Marcelo.
Fayez goes down in pain after Bale sends a Benzema cross well over the bar but the Al Ain man’s attempt to block it seems to cause him some sort of injury.
40 mins: Eisa with some lovely acrobatics to get off his feet and tip a Bale header over the bar from a corner. Everyone thought it was going in but the goalkeeper had different ideas. The subsequent corner is chipped towards Modric on the edge of the box from where he volleys it (think Scholes v Bradford) towards the bottom corner but the goalkeeper was equal to it.
38 mins: So ... Al Ain have a free-kick out on the left but rather than cross it into the box, it is sent across the pitch and out for a throw-in. Rarely have I seen such a useless set-piece, it was worse than Joey Barton’s corners for Manchester City.
36 mins: It really should be 2-0 after Vazquez pulls the ball back straight to the feet of Benzema who is eight yards out and unmarked but contrives to smash the ball well over the bar mainly due to the fact he was leaning so far back it might as well be lying down.
34 mins: Luke asks: “Hi Will. What a fantastic match up we have here today! Could you share with us some of your fondest memories of Al Ain Football Club over the years? Just a few paragraphs will do.”
My personal highlight was when Manchester City played them in a midseason friendly, winning 3-0. Richard Wright was part of the squad who travelled and someone from the club sent me his shirt afterwards. Great days.
32 mins: There is a lot of space down the left, which Marcelo and Bale try to make the most of but the Welshman’s cross from the byline hits the first man and ricochets off a Real Madrid player out for a goal-kick.
30 mins: A Worse Pass of the Year contender from Marcelo, who sends a 10-yard pass to absolutely no one down the flank. I think that was the opposite of showboating, whatever that is.
28 mins: Vazquez essentially walks through the Al Ain defence but his pass to Kroos sends the German wider than he wants, resulting in a poor cross straight to the goalkeeper.
26 mins: It seems like Al Ain about a second late to every ball, which they will need to improve on if they are to have a greater impact.
24 mins: Al Ain enjoy some respite by passing the ball around their own defence to give them a brief feeling of control but this concept ends when Ahmed flied into a challenge with Carvajal which sends the full-back five yards up in the air but he isn’t booked.
22 mins: Speaking of Bale making an impact, he tests the goalkeeper after controlling a pass over the top but his fierce drive was straight at Eisa. The Welshman then turns provider but Benzema’s effort is deflected wide for a corner.
20 mins: Al Ain are aiming to make the pace of this game as pedestrian as possible, which is suiting the likes of Modric who can pick his passes at leisure. Bale has barely been in the game, as the tempo does not suit him but he can certainly make an impact when it matters.
18 mins: Carvajal and Benzema combine superbly down the right, allowing the full-back to send a cross to the feet of Vazquez but he drags his shot inches wide of the right-hand post. Real Madrid should really have this done and dusted before the break.
16 mins: Al Ain thought they had equalised through Caio but the officials rightly rule it out for offside after the Brazilian had moved too quickly to get onto the end of a free-kick.
GOAL! Real Madrid 1-0 Al Ain (Modric, 14)
Modric makes the difference by curling a shot from the edge of the box into the bottom corner after Benzema had held it up. It was a lovely bending effort with the Croatian’s left foot just a minute after Al Ain had a great chance to take the lead.
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12 mins: Modric shows why he is the finest footballer on the planet at the moment with a crossfield pass to Marcelo who takes it down and eventually a one-two is played on the edge of the area, resulting in Benzema smashing a shot wide form 12 yards.
10 mins: I suspect the possession stats are roughly 95%-5% in Real Madrid’s favour, which isn’t much of a surprise but Al Ain might need a more cunning plan than just allowing their more esteemed opponents to just do what they want with the ball.
8 mins: Vazquez chips the ball into the box and despite being under absolutely not pressure the defender headed it out for a corner. Luckily for Al Ain the subsequent set-piece came to nothing.
6 mins: And the minute I say that Al Ain break down the end for Berg to slip the ball through for a teammate to chase but Courtois got their first and pushed the ball wide and the following cross went straight out of play.
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4 mins: Llorente broke down the left and pulled the ball back into the six-yard box where a defender turned it against his own post, before forcing it out of play for a corner. I think Real Madrid might win this.
Real Madrid are certainly dominating possession here and, to be honest, Al Ain have not put two passes together so far and are struggling to get close to the Spaniards.
2 mins: Al Ain have committed a couple of lazy fouls in the opening couple of minutes, one assumes to let Real Madrid they are in a game. Real Madrid don’t seem too worried, to be fair.
Kick-off: Real Madrid v Al Ain
Peep! Peep Peep! Let’s get ready to rumble!
There’s lots of lovely VAR available to the officials in Abu Dhabi, which is a relief for all.
The pre-match rituals are taking place and we’re heading towards kick-off. I must say there isn’t much of an atmosphere.
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I don’t believe it is the same in the rest of Europe. As you can see, Real Madrid are certainly taking it seriously. In England it is just seen as an added distraction for any club having to spend a week of their winter in some far flung land, as we should all remember from Manchester United’ failure in 2000.
@Will_Unwin Why is it that this competition doesn't even register an interest in the UK?, is it the same in the rest of Europe?
— Cuthbert Artichoke (@bertartichoke) December 22, 2018
A little more on Modric winning the big Guardian prize this year:
One thing Solari has done is bring Llorente into the team since taking over from Lopetegui and it has certainly worked. The team has looked a lot more stable in recent weeks and is just 90 minutes away from becoming a world champion.
Although Abu Dhabi is the home of football, I am surprised that anyone would travel from Europe to watch Real Madrid but they have.
Here is what happened in the third place playoff:
#ClubWC | 🎥
— #ClubWC 🏆 (@FIFAcom) December 22, 2018
🇯🇵@atlrs_english 0-4 @CARPoficial🇦🇷
Goals from Bruno Zuculini, Santos Borre & a farewell brace from Gonzalo Martinez saw River Plate take bronze at UAE 2018 🥉👏 pic.twitter.com/1db2GoFlXX
Solari actually played in this competition for Mexican outfit Atlante in 2009, helping them to a third place finish.
Sometimes, in the United Kingdom, we might not give the Club World Cup the kudos it merits, but Santiago Solari is a huge fan.
I love the competition. I love the idea of bringing all the confederation champions together.
When I was 13 or 14 I’d play truant to go and watch the matches in the bar, because they were on at eight in the morning. It took several months for those dreams to take shape, to think about taking on Europe’s big guns. But it was only once a year, so I didn’t miss that much school.
It’s not all been good news for Real Madrid in the buildup to this game, as it was announced that board member Angel Luis Heras Aguado passed away on Friday. Florentino Perez described him as his best friend.
Luka Modric is starting for Real Madrid today and it was announced this week that he is the Guardian footballer of the year. A few other Real Madrid players also made our top 100. Check it out:
Al Ain needed a penalty shootout to get past River Plate but they won’t mind.
Teams: Real Madrid v Al Ain
Real Madrid: Courtois, Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo, Kroos, Modric, Llorente, Lucas Vazquez, Bale, Benzema
Subs: Navas, Casilla, Vallejo, Nacho, Casemiro, Valverde, Odriozola, Isco, Reguilon, Ceballos, Vinicius
Al Ain: Eisa, Doumbia, Ahmed, Caio, Fayez, Mohamed Abdulrahman, Ahmad, Shiotani, Yaslem, Elshahat
Subs: Busanda, Amer Abdulrahman, Al Ahbabi, Abdulla, Barman, Diaky, Salem, Nasser, Khalfan, Juma, Nader, Maroof
Real Madrid saw off Kashima Antlers in the semi-final and, conveniently, here are the highlights.
We now know who finished third in the tournament after River Plate had little trouble defeating Kashima Antlers 4-0. Gonzalo Martinez scored twice for the Copa Libertadores winners, with Bruno Zuculini and Santos Borre getting one each.
Preamble
Good afternoon!
Real Madrid are in very familiar territory as they look to secure their third straight Fifa Club World Cup, which would be a very respectable achievement. They defeated Kashima Antlers of Japan 3-1 in the semi-final, thanks to a hat-trick from Welshman Gareth Bale against a somewhat questionable defence. The Champions League winners certainly take this tournament seriously and have brought their strongest squad to Abu Dhabi, very much the home of world football.
Al Ain have a pretty unenviable task of trying to stop Real Madrid today and their squad does not naturally look like one which is capable of doing so. Their most notable name is Marcus Berg who has never really excited anyone. They do have the skilful Mohammed Abdulrahman who is one to watch out for on the ball. They shocked River Plate last time out with a penalty shootout victory and they can boast of home advantage but they are going to need a but of luck and a lot of effort to get the better of Real Madrid.
