Club World Cup: Vinicius pits Madrid against Juve in the round of 16

With Vinícius Jr in goal-scoring and assisting mode, Real Madrid booked their place in the round of 16 of the Club World Cup with a 3-0 win over Salzburg on Thursday in Philadelphia in the closing stages of the group stage.

After their best performance in the United States, capped by goals from the Brazilian (40), Uruguayan Federico Valverde (45+3) and homegrown Gonzalo García (84), Xabi Alonso's Merengues will fight for a place in the quarterfinals against Juventus, second in Group G, on Tuesday in Miami.

Europe's most successful club did not yield to the pressure that dictated that a loss or a draw could force them to go home, and ended up at the top of Group H with seven points.

The one who will have to pack his bags is his rival. Despite starting the third and final matchday in second place with four points, the Austrians lost their place to Al Hilal (5), who defeated the eliminated Mexican side Pachuca (0) 2-0 in Nashville.

The Saudis will have a tough test against Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, the G-zone leaders, in Orlando on Monday.

The English side had no trouble securing top spot in their group after thrashing an insipid Juventus 5-2. Pep's side put the game to bed with goals from Jérémy Doku, Pierre Kalulu's own goal, Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Savinho. Teun Koopmeiners and Dušan Vlahović scored for the Vecchia Signora, who could do little against Manchester City's attacking power.

Valverde, the metronome

Under a rain that cooled Philadelphia, subjected in recent days to a heat wave, Madrid presented a version close to Xabi Alonso's press: initiative, pressure, possession and triangulations.

The crowd, which nearly filled all 67,594 seats at Lincoln Financial Field, recognized Merengues’ reaction after two games (1-1 against Al Hilal, 3-1 win against Pachuca).

With Valverde as the metronome, Madrid subdued the Austrians for long periods of the first half, but barely had a great chance to test Christian Zawieschitzky before Vini had his way.

It was precisely after an associative play in which the Uruguayan left the Brazilian star one-on-one with the Austrian goalkeeper, who brilliantly saved the shot with his left leg.

Twenty minutes later, Jude Bellingham launched a deep, quarterbacking pass from the Merengue area.

The ball, skimming the rain-soaked turf, raced between the Red Bulls' center-backs to Vinícius, who took it, latched onto the giant Frenchman Joane Gadou and fired in a left-footed cross to celebrate his first World Cup goal.

Modric, acclaimed

The Seleção man had an active night and hinted at being able to form a good partnership with Gonzalo Garcia, the 21-year-old youth player who has replaced Kylian Mbappé, absent again due to the after-effects of severe gastroenteritis.

The Carioca signed his best performance in the United States by taking advantage of a defective rejection of the Ivorian Mamady Diambou to get into the box and assist the captain, who surrendered Zawieschitzky with a furious right-footed shot.

And Salzburg? In the first half, they barely troubled Thibaut Courtois, but in the second half, through two attempts from Denmark's Adam Daghim, they already knew that Al Hilal had booked their ticket to the round of 16.

With the victory assured, the Madrid fans, largely made up of Latin Americans, called for the entry of Luka Modrić, who had to leave at the end of the competition.

Something changed with the entry of the Croatian 10, who received the captain's armband from Valverde: the Spaniards began to play more directly and sometimes on the counter-attack, with Bellingham taking the lead after Vini’s departure, with almost twenty minutes to go, to give way to his compatriot Rodrygo.

The transformation was prompted by a Salzburg side that showed a more willing face, but who already knew they were a dead man walking even before Garcia, the brilliant home-grown player, brought down the curtain with an exquisite, diving finish on a counter.