Real Madrid Vs Juventus [1-0] Club World Cup 2025: Xabi Alonso Wing Play – Tactical Analysis

Real Madrid eliminated Juventus from the Round of 16 of the FIFA Club World Cup with a 1-0 win.

Los Blancos advance to the Club World Cup quarter-finals, where they will go on to face Borussia Dortmund.

The match confirmed that I Bianconeri will need to make some remarkable adjustments in their squad during this transfer market in order to compete seriously for the top spots and avoid having a negative season.

For Real Madrid, it is safe to say that Xabi Alonso has already started working seriously with the group and has succeeded in organising the team in the way he likes while progressively implementing his preferred tactics.

The FIFA Club World Cup was the perfect opportunity for Alonso to test his players and experiment with his preferred tactics using the actual players at his disposal.

Of course, experimenting and building while winning matches and advancing in an international competition is always better than experimenting in a less motivating atmosphere.

In this tactical analysis article on the Club World Cup match between Real Madrid and Juventus, we will assess Real Madrid performance under Xabi Alonso tactics.

The analysis will also explore Juventus flaws and weaknesses under Igor Tudor.

Real Madrid Vs Juventus Lineups

Real Madrid started the match in a 3-5-2 formation with Thibaut Courtois in goal, Dean Huijsen, Aurélien Tchouaméni and Antonio Rüdiger as centre-backs, Fran García as a left wing-back, and Trent Alexander-Arnold as a right wing-back.

Federico Valverde, Arda Güler, and Jude Bellingham formed the midfield trio, while Vinícius Júnior and Gonzalo García formed the attacking duo.

Vinícius often leant towards the left wing, while García was more of a centre-forward.

It is also worth noting that there were numerous positional switches throughout the game.

Bellingham and Güler were allowed to advance frequently and exchange positions, while Alexander-Arnold had the freedom to cover the right wing and create.

On the other hand, Igor Tudor opted for the 3-4-2-1 formation with Michele Di Gregorio as goalkeeper, Pierre Kalulu, Daniele Rugani and Lloyd Kelly as centre-backs, Manuel Locatelli and Khéphren Thuram as central midfielders, Alberto Costa as a right wing-back, and Andrea Cambiaso as a left wing-back.

In attack, Tudor utilised Francisco Conceição on the right wing and Kenan Yıldız on the left wing, with the instruction for both to play centrally as often as possible, thereby making them advanced playmakers.

The decision to substitute Filip Kostić and Teun Koopmeiners for Conceição and Yıldız was not the perfect choice to make in this match, as Yıldız and Conceição were the ones creating danger and could have done more to score the equaliser if they were kept on the field, knowing that Kostić and Koopmeiners were not as influential as them in the end.

For the striker role, Tudor opted for Randal Kolo Muani as Dušan Vlahović can be considered out of the manager’s plans at the moment.

Real Madrid Wing Play & Shooting From Distance

Real Madrid attempted to exploit Juventus’ defensive weaknesses as much as possible in this match, relying primarily on Vinícius and Trents individual strengths and their ability to win offensive duels.

To help them be even more dangerous and impactful, both Bellingham and Güler were continuously instructed to position themselves near them as much as possible, proposing passing options in the half-spaces and drawing defenders to them in order to free one of the players.

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