Al Ahly 1-4 Real Madrid: Real Madrid may try to become world champions for the fifth time in history on Saturday. Carlo Ancelotti’s team reached the final of the club tournament in Morocco on Wednesday evening by beating the Egyptian Al-Ahly 1-4. Luka Modric missed a penalty kick, but that didn’t matter.
Real entered the semi-finals of the World Cup for clubs as champions League winner and had to manage without the injured Thibaut Courtois, who was also missing against Real Mallorca last weekend. Andriy Lunin could not prevent a 1-0 defeat. On Wednesday, the Ukrainian made some good saves against Al-Ahly.
Vinicius Júnior Real took the lead just before half-time. The attacker took advantage of misses from defender Mahmoud Metwaly and punished this with a controlled marker. In the first minute after the break, Federico Valverde doubled the Spanish margin and Real’s victory seemed within reach. However, a used penalty kick from Ali Maaloul made it exciting again: 1-2.
Al-Ahly went looking for the equalizer with all his might, but did not find it (partly due to an excellent save by Lunin). Real successfully defended their lead and had a huge chance to make it 1-3 four minutes before the end, when Modric was allowed to take a penalty kick. However, the Croat saw his bet turned by Mohamed El Shenawy.
It was a miss with no consequences. Real came 1-3 in injury time, via Rodrygo, and Sergio Arribas even made it 1-4 27 seconds after coming on. The Royal may therefore play for the world title against the Saudi Al-Hilal on Saturday. Al-Hilal surprised the South American Flamengo on Tuesday, which now has to decide with Al-Ahly which team will grab the bronze.
Vinícius Júnior demands more from LaLiga
In related news, Vinícius Júnior wants to see more decisiveness from La Liga to combat racism. Vinícius expressed his displeasure towards the league board in a tweet. “Racists keep coming to the stadiums to see the biggest club in the world up close. And La Liga keeps doing nothing. I will continue with my head held high and continue to celebrate my and Madrid’s successes. In the end it’s MY fault,” he writes cynically.
