Mexican Pachuca even tried to exert pressure in the opening minutes of the match, but was unable to maintain the momentum and, unsurprisingly, succumbed to Real Madrid’s star-studded squad in the Intercontinental Cup final.
With goals from Mbappé, Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior —voted the day before as the best in the world by FIFA (International Football Federation)—, the Spanish team beat the Mexican team 3-0 to win their tenth title in the competition, in a closely contested game. this Wednesday (18) at the Lusail stadium, in Doha, Qatar.
It was the 11th time that the Spanish team played in the final of the competition — the count includes the old Intercontinental, with only Europeans and South Americans, and the FIFA competition. The only time they did not win the championship was in 1966, when they lost to Peñarol, from Uruguay, 4-0 on aggregate — at the time, two games were played to decide the champion, with 2-0 in Uruguay and the same score in Spain.
Now there are 38 European club titles, compared to 26 for South Americans.
The World Cup was reformulated this year and was renamed the Intercontinental Cup. In the new format, the European team only entered the final of the tournament, not the semifinal stage, as occurred in previous years. The players from the current Champions League champion arrived at the competition venue only on Monday (16), two days after a 3-3 draw with Rayo Vallecano for Espanyol.
Pachuca, classified for having won the Concacaf (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Football Associations) Champions Cup, reached the final for the first time.
In the quarter-finals, they beat Botafogo 3-0, taking advantage of the tiredness of the players who won the Copa Libertadores and the Brazilian Championship. In the semi-final, they beat Al Ahly, from Egypt, on penalties, after a goalless draw in regular time and extra time.
The Mexican team even started the duel with Real Madrid well this Wednesday and were the first to reach the opponent’s goal, forcing Belgian goalkeeper Courtois to make two saves to keep the score at zero.
With an attack formed by Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Mbappé, Real Madrid did not take long, however, to take control of the match, starting to threaten the goal saved by Carlos Moreno.
Until, at 37, the first goal came, from a characteristic move by Vinicius Junior, who started at speed from the left wing towards the opponent’s area, got rid of the marking and passed to Mbappé, free in the middle of the area, who only had the work to complete for the back of the net.
With the goal, the French striker managed to become world champion in the same stadium where, two years ago, he saw what would be his second World Cup title slip away, losing to Lionel Messi’s Argentina in a penalty shootout. Mbappé scored three goals in that final.
In the second half of the match, Rodrygo expanded after just seven minutes by receiving the ball at the edge of the penalty area, eluding two opponents and hitting it firmly with his right foot into the left corner, with no chance of defense for the goalkeeper.
The third came at 39, in a penalty kick converted by Vinicius Junior, after a foul inside the area on Lucas Vázquez.
Pachuca’s main dangerous play was a free kick from striker Rondón, who stopped after a good save from Courtois.
With the victory confirmed, the attention of the Madrid team’s players now turns again to Espanyol and the Champions League. The club already has a commitment on Sunday (22), when they will face Sevilla, at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Spanish and European champions last season, Real Madrid were unable to repeat their dominant performance this year.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men occupy third place in the Spanish league table, with one game less than leaders Barcelona.
In the new Champions League, the team occupies only 20th place, after six matches in the group stage, with three wins and three draws.
