ATLANTA, United States
Spanish giants Real Madrid beat Juventus 1-0 on Tuesday to set up a Club World Cup quarter-final clash against Borussia Dortmund, who edged Mexican side Monterrey.
Serhou Guirassy struck twice for the German outfit as they scraped past Sergio Ramos's side 2-1 in a tight last-16 clash in Atlanta and denied the former Real Madrid skipper a match-up against his former team.
Youngster Gonzalo Garcia headed home his third goal of the tournament to help Madrid edge Italian side Juventus at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami earlier.
It was an impressive display from Xabi Alonso's Madrid side, unbeaten under the new coach, and they were further boosted by Kylian Mbappe's return from illness as a substitute.
"We had a lot of chances in the second half, but their goalkeeper was really good," said Madrid shot-stopper Thibaut Courtois.
The first half was a finely-balanced contest with Igor Tudor's Juventus starting brightly before Real ended it on top.
Los Blancos kept turning the screw and found their goal when Trent Alexander-Arnold crossed for Gonzalo to head home after 54 minutes.
Alonso decided to introduce Mbappe to the delight of the 62,149 crowd but the striker did not find any clear openings as Juve pushed for an equaliser.
Madrid's coach was pleased with his team's performance, including that of Gonzalo -- who he had compared to former Real great Raul -- but also suggested that Mbappe might be ready for a bigger contribution in the next game.
"We will keep watching him... I think he will be much better for the quarters," Alonso said.
Alonso added that he was satisfied to see Real produce the necessary grit to grind out the result in the second half.
"We had to be patient, we had to mature into the game," said the coach.
"With the players and myself, you know you have to grit your teeth and do what you have to do. And in the end, we had to hold on a bit, and I'm happy about that too."
Juve boss Tudor said his team became exhausted as the game developed.
"In the end there were 10 of them asking to be substituted. Obviously you can't do that but there was an incredible tiredness," he said, offering his reasons.
"There is the tension of the game which burns energy but then there is the heat and humidity," explained Tudor, also noting they were at the end of a long season.
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