Real Madrid edged past Borussia Dortmund 3-2 in a dramatic Club World Cup quarterfinal on Saturday to set up a last-four clash with Paris St Germain.
The Spanish giant stamped its authority on the match early at the MetLife Stadium, dominating possession and opening a two-goal lead, thanks to strikes by Gonzalo Garcia and Fran Garcia in the 10th and 20th minutes.
Gonzalo, the 21-year-old forward continuing his breakout tournament, opened the scoring with a close-range volley from Arda Guler’s cross.
ALSO READ: PSG beats Bayern Munich to seal Club World Cup semifinal spot
Ten minutes later, Fran doubled Real’s lead, arriving at the far post to turn in Trent Alexander-Arnold’s low delivery after an incisive move down the right.
Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Jr. squandered chances to extend Real’s lead before half-time, while Aurelien Tchouameni came closest in the second half, rattling the crossbar with a curling effort from the edge of the box.
Despite the reduced intensity of play in New Jersey’s scorching heat, Real comfortably saw out the match, leaving Dortmund unable to mount a comeback until the game exploded into life in 10 minutes of mayhem in added time.
Substitute Maximilian Beier pounced on a rebound in the 93rd minute to pull one back for Dortmund, but a minute later, Kylian Mbappe restored Real’s two-goal cushion with a stunning volley.
Dortmund refused to back down, however, and Serhou Guirassy’s pace saw him break through Real’s defence only to be pulled down in the box by Dean Huijsen.
The defender was shown a straight red card, ruling him out of the semifinal, and Guirassy coolly converted the resulting spot-kick to reduce the deficit to 3-2.
Dortmund came within inches of forcing extra time when, in the ninth minute of added time, Thibaut Courtois produced a sensational save to deny Marcel Sabitzer’s powerful strike.
ALSO READ: Igor Jesus, fresh from FIFA Club World Cup fame, joins Nottingham Forest
“We were doing really well and the match looked under control, but then in the last 10 minutes things got crazy,” Real manager Xabi Alonso told DAZN.
“We have lost a little bit of our focus and intensity when we didn’t have the ball, and luckily, nothing else happened. But overall, we have had a good 80 minutes and the last 10 minutes to improve.”
Real Madrid will now turn its attention to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), which defeated Bayern Munich 2-0 to book its place in the semifinals. The winner of that clash will face Fluminense or Chelsea, who meet on Tuesday, in the final.
