Club World Cup: Real Madrid and Borussia meet in the quarterfinals after disposing of Juventus and Monterrey

A goal from surprise youngster Gonzalo Garcia was all it took for Real Madrid to overcome Juventus 1-0. Xabi Alonso's side, in which Mbappé made his debut in this tournament, will face Borussia Dortmund in the quarterfinals of the Club World Cup. Borussia Dortmund, who suffered until the end to beat Sergio Ramos' Monterrey 2-1, thus frustrating their reunion with the Merengue team.

A day after the resounding eliminations of Manchester City and Inter Milan, Madrid did its homework at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on an afternoon in which Kylian Mbappé made his debut in the tournament.

Gonzalo broke Juve's wall with his third goal of the tournament

The Frenchman started from the bench and it was precisely the youngster who is covering his place in this tournament, Gonzalo Garcia, who blew away the Juventus wall in the 54th minute with a lightning header after a cross from England's Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The home-grown player's strike, his third in the competition, spoiled the display given by Italian goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio, who made Madrid´s strikers desperate with a dozen saves.

Garcia, 21, continues to add merit to earn a place in Xabi Alonso's squad, who turned to this semi-unknown striker in the face of the injury to Endrick and the severe gastroenteritis that kept Mbappé out of the first round.

Mbappé's World Cup debut with 20 minutes to go

French striker Mbappé made his Club World Cup debut with 20 minutes left in the match, but didn’t have a chance to open his scoring account. “We’ll have more training sessions and he’ll have more time to recover, so he’ll be feeling better,” said his coach, Xabi Alonso.

Alonso's new Madrid, with scarce playmaking, is still appealing for now to the direct soccer posed by his predecessor, Carlo Ancelotti. In their own half, the white backline did impose itself on Juventus' scant offensive arguments, especially in the second half, when the batteries of the talented Kenan Yildiz were exhausted.

Bianconeri coach Igor Tudor said afterwards that the physical switch-off was general in his ranks. "At the end ten players asked for the change, but it was impossible, of course. They had unbelievable exhaustion," the Croatian helmsman said.

Dortmund survive Mexican siege

The German side survived the Mexican siege and booked a date with Real Madrid in Saturday's quarterfinals at MetLife Stadium (outside New York), where they will try to avenge their defeat in the 2024 Champions League final.

In a thrilling last-16 tie, the Mexican side had Dortmund on the ropes until they came close to an equalizer in stoppage time with a header from Sergio Ramos.

This pairing ensures the presence of at least one European team in the final of the tournament, as Madrid or Dortmund will clash in the semifinals with the winner of the all-star clash between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich also on Saturday in Atlanta.

On the other side of the draw, Brazil's Fluminense and Palmeiras will clash on Friday against Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia and England´s Chelsea, respectively.

Ramos inches away from another of his classic stoppage-time goals

The Club World Cup quarter-finals came very close to offering a reunion between Real Madrid and their former captain Sergio Ramos. Led by the veteran Spanish center-back, Monterrey put up a huge fight in Atlanta that proved insufficient to overcome Borussia Dortmund, who sealed the ticket 2-1.

"Today it was our turn to suffer defeat, but with tremendous pride, with our heads held high," Ramos stressed. "They scored the two they had and, in this type of match, where everything is very evenly matched, that makes the difference," acknowledged the defender, once again a protagonist in a major international competition at 39 years of age.

Guirassy's double

The star of the night at the Mercedes Benz Stadium was Guinea's Serhou Guirassy, who completed a double in the 14th and 24th minutes with assists from his partner Karim Adeyemi.

Los Rayados never threw in the towel and cut the deficit with a header in the six-yard box from Argentine German Berterame in the 48th minute. Mexico's Jesus Corona, a nightmare all night for Dortmund, claimed a penalty in the 60th minute for an apparent push by center-back Niklas Süle as he was about to finish in the box.

Five minutes later, the referee disallowed a goal to Berterame for offside and, already in stoppage time, Sergio Ramos was inches away from scoring one of his legendary headed goals.

"When you lose you're not happy, but I think the boys played very well, in many phases much better," applauded Rayados coach Domènec Torrent. "We had many chances to score but it wasn't enough for us."

For Dortmund, a yellow card received in the first half will sideline young Jobe Bellingham from facing his Real Madrid star brother Jude on Saturday.