Kashima Antlers 1-3 Real Madrid: Talking Points and Observations
Real Madrid advanced to the finals of the Club World Cup as they defeated the Japanese side Kashima Antlers convincingly at the Zayed City Sports Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Real Madrid has been in fine form since the appointment of Santiago Solari, winning 9 of the 11 games.
He fielded a very strong lineup, with just one change from the win over Vallecano, as Gareth Bale came in for Marco Asensio. The Welshman was superb on the night as he grabbed a stunning hat-trick.
The game started off brightly for the minnows who almost scored from the first corner. The first 10 minutes were filled with sloppy movements from Real Madrid, but Kashima failed to take advantage. As the game progressed, Los Blancos came into life, with Gareth Bale and Lucas Vasquez making several charges down the flanks.
Gareth Bale scored the crucial opener right at the brink of halftime. Real started the second half with great intensity, with Karim Benzema having a shot cleared off the line by Yamamoto.
The defender went from hero to zero as he misplaced a horrible back pass. Gareth Bale latched onto his error, striking a right foot effort into the bottom left corner for his second goal of the night at the 50th minute. Bale got his third a few minutes later, with another assist from Marcelo. Here are the talking points from the game.
#1 Marcos Llorente's growing influence
Marcos Llorente put in a solid showing at the base of Real's midfield for the 7th game in a row, intercepting several moves before they became threats and driving forward with purpose, finding teammates in dangerous areas. He grows in confidence with each showing, stamping more and more of his class at the bottom of Real's midfield 3, a role previously occupied solely by Brazilian Casemiro.
The Brazilian has returned to full fitness but will face a tough challenge in trying to displace Llorente, who has hardly put a foot wrong since taking over after the Selecao enforcer.