by Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso said that Superstar striker Kylian Mbappe was “better” before the quarter-finals of the Club World Championship against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, but would not confirm whether the Frenchman would start.
Mbappe missed all three group games at the tournament with a stomach bug, but returned as a replacement when Madrid Juventus 1-0 to reach the last eight.
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The young Gonzalo Garcia has run the line for Madrid in all four games and scored three goals in the USA.
“He is better, he recovered, we will decide (if he starts) tomorrow morning,” Alonso told reporters on Friday before we do not mean that the 21-year-old Gonzalo had to get out of the team.
“You can (play together), depending on the moment and the needs, you are complementary if the context asks about it and I have by no means excluded it,” Alonso continued.
The Spaniard said he wanted the players “first know” before he revealed what his plans were for the game in the Metlife stage in New Jersey.
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The Brazilian wing player Rodrygo did not present much plans at the tournament in Alonso’s and could not contribute significantly.
“I spoke to him yesterday and he has a positive mentality, he is ready and ready when it is needed,” said Alonso.
A player who impressed Alonso is the 20-year-old playmaker Arda Guler, who fought for playing time under Carlo Ancelotti last season.
“It is the moment to invest in a process with Arda. We will urge him to develop and mature, but to know that he can make mistakes and accept them,” added the Spaniard.
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The game on Saturday is a repetition of the 2024 UEFA Champions League final, in which Madrid Dortmund defeated 2-0 in Wembley.
If Dortmund does not retain good memories of this night, they enter Alonsos Bayer Leverkusen in the past three years with a lot of knowledge of Real’s new trainer against Alonsos Bayer Leverkusen.
– Kovac: ‘We believe’ – –
“You are currently seeing a lot of Bavarian Leverkusen in Real Madrid because he is implementing his football style,” said Dortmund coach Niko Kovac.
“It plays the same shape, but the quality of the players is higher than with Leverkusen.
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“I would say in three weeks that you cannot change the world, it takes time, but we saw some very good things. It will be interesting and hopefully we can compete.”
Dortmund returns to the Metlife stage outside of New York City, where she started her club world championship with a 0-0 draw against Fluminense.
Now they hope to imitate the Brazilians who qualified for the semi-finals on Friday with a 2-1 win against Al-Hilal.
“When we started the tournament, we didn’t know how to do it,” admitted Kovac, whose team arrived in the USA after taking fourth place in the German Bundesliga.
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Her only defeat in 14 games since mid -March came against Barcelona in the Champions League.
“Of course we are very happy because this is a great tournament, and the further we go, we can see the passion and intensity there.
“We played Fluminensee who made it to Semis, and yet people laughed when I said they were a top team.
“Now we want to stay here and hope and believe that we can get through the next round.”
RBS-as
