Vinicius Junior on target as Real Madrid reach Club World Cup Final

Spanish giants Real Madrid made it through to the Club World Cup final as they cruised to a comfortable 4-1 victory over Al Ahly.

Vinicius Junior, despite recent off-field controversies, was on target at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat on February 8.

Federico Valverde, Rodrygo and Sergio Arribas were also on target as Carlo Ancelotti’s men sealed an impressive victory.

Ali Maaloul’s spot-kick briefly made Madrid sweat, but they reached Saturday’s final – where they face Al Hilal – and could even afford Luka Modric’s late penalty miss.

Hussein El Shahat tested Andriy Lunin – in for the injured Thibaut Courtois – early in the game, but Madrid grabbed the lead through Vinicius.

The star Brazilian striker had already hit the post before he opened the scoring three minutes before half time.

Al Ahly midfielder Aliou Dieng directed a weak header back towards goal and Vinicius cashed in to beat Mohamed El Shenawy.

Valverde doubled the lead soon after the break with a routine finish, before Al Ahly reduced the deficit after 64 minutes when Eduardo Camavinga brought down El Shahat in the box and Maaloul converted the spot-kick.

Madrid could have restored their two-goal advantage with three minutes left, but El Shenawy saved Modric’s spot-kick.

Ancelotti’s side did add a third in stoppage time when Rodrygo combined with Dani Ceballos to wrap up the win.

Subs Arribas then added the coup-de-gras with a minute of injury time left when he fired in from a Camavinga pass.

After the semi-final success, boss Ancelotti insisted that Real must now give final opponents Al Hilal plenty of respect if they are to go on and seal the prestigious Club World Cup champions title.

“We are up against a team that won the semi-final by playing well and deserved to be in the final,” Ancelotti told reporters.

“We have to respect this team.

“They’ve got good players and play well collectively.

“They’ll be excited to play in the final and so will we.”

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