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FRIDAY | JUNE 20, 2025

Malaysian Paper

Los Blancos held … as Man City, Juve triumph in Club World Cup openers

R EAL MADRID were held to a 1-1 draw by Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal at the Club World Cup in new coach Xabi Alonso’s first game in charge yesterday, after Manchester City got off to a winning start. In the late game Juventus thrashed Al Ain 5-0 in Washington after visiting US President Donald Trump at the White House. Federico Valverde had a stoppage time penalty saved as Real were forced to settle for a point in the Group H match in Miami having taken the lead. It was a disappointing outcome for the large contingent of fans of the Spanish side in the crowd of 62,415 at Hard Rock Stadium. “The first half wasn’t as good as the second one. In the second half we had better chances, better control. For sure we have the principles to start building something, but we could have won,” Alonso told broadcaster DAZN . The former Bayer Leverkusen coach gave debuts to new signings Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dean Huijsen in defence but Real were missing Kylian Mbappe through illness. RB Salzburg took the lead in Group H with a 2-1 win over Mexican outfit Pachuca in Cincinnati. The match was suspended early in the second half with the Austrian team leading 1-0 because of a storm, resuming 97 minutes later. In Philadelphia, Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku scored first half goals as Pep Guardiola’s City eased to a 2-0 win against Wydad Casablanca of Morocco in Group G. City gave debuts to new signings Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki, but it was Foden who opened the scoring inside two minutes. Doku converted the second goal t g

“I’m delighted for my goals but first and foremost for the team’s win,” Conceicao, on loan from Porto, told DAZN . “We started the game well and that’s what we wanted to do, to win this opening match and now we need to kick on.” Juventus coach Igor Tudor thought his team were heading in the right direction after playing some brilliant football yesterday. Tudor took over from Thiago Motta in March in the midst of a disappointing campaign after Juve had exited all cup competitions. He helped the club finish fourth in Serie A to secure a return to the Champions League next year. The Old Lady are one of the biggest clubs in the world with expectations of success every season but won the last of their 36 Serie A titles in 2020. They are also without a major international trophy for over two decades and the revamped Club World Cup gives them an opportunity to change that. Club management have thrown their weight behind Tudor to lead the team’s revival, with the coach extending his contract until 2028 earlier this month. “I felt like the team really cared about this match, they were really motivated. They were on their mettle. They have that desire. “There was lovely energy between the players that desire to work hard for one another, to run for one another. I felt that really came through, and I think the players felt that among themselves too. “We are going in the right direction. There’s always things you need to improve upon… a team is a living being, it’s never the same from one day to the next,” Tudor said. – AFP/Reuters

step we will get to the right tempo.” Juventus surged to the top of Group G with a crushing triumph over UAE team Al Ain at Audi Field. On loan Paris Saint-Germain forward Randal Kolo Muani and Francisco Conceicao both struck twice while Kenan Yildiz was also on target.

from a Foden corner shortly before the interval in a game played in sweaty early afternoon conditions in front of 37,446 fans at Lincoln Financial Field. The afternoon was slightly marred for City as Rico Lewis was sent off for a dangerous tackle late on, but Guardiola was satisfied with the winning start as his side look to turn the page following a difficult last season. “It is so hot. The humidity is not easy. We had good moments, many new players. The first game in this group stage is always really, really important. I saw many, many good things,” said Guardiola, who suggested he will make sweeping

changes for the next match against Al Ain in Atlanta on Monday. “We are going to

train well in the next few days and then fresh legs for the next game to try to

improve things,” Guardiola added. “We have a

lot of new p l a y e r s , injured players

ba c k , a n d s t e p b y

Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde (left) in action with Al Hilal’s Musab Al Juwayr yesterday. – REUTERSPIC

Draper downs Popyrin

- Story on page 30

- Story on page 31

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