FIFA Club World Cup 2025™: A very different Real Madrid is coming

XABIALONSO'S MARK

At the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™, Real Madrid have made clear changes, especially in their style of play and approach to the game. "Los Blancos" no longer rely heavily on individuals and single moments of brilliance, but are becoming a more unified, organized and smoothly functioning team through each match. It can be said that coach Alonso is building a more balanced style of football. Real Madrid are not obsessed with possession like Pep Guardiola's Man.City, nor are they inclined towards counter-attacking like they were under Zinedine Zidane or Ancelotti. Instead, Alonso builds his style of play based on the ability to press aggressively, maintain reasonable team distances and rotate the ball flexibly from the back.

FIFA Club World Cup 2025™: There is a very different Real Madrid - Photo 1.

Garcia is playing better with each match at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025TM - PHOTO: AP

Real's current attacks are very methodical, no longer relying much on lucky crosses or individual breakthroughs on the wings. Instead, the formation is spread out evenly, with central midfielders like Bellingham, Guler or Valverde moving constantly to create a triangle of coordination with the striker, while right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold often moves into the middle to create a numerical advantage. In the back line, center-back Dean Hujisen is ready to launch unexpected and extremely "deadly" cross-line passes. All of Real Madrid's goals in the US have come from beautiful, coordinated situations.

Another difference is that Real's defense under coach Alonso has become more solid and proactive. Mr. Alonso did not use the traditional 4-defender tactical formation but switched to 3 center-backs. When needed, Tchouameni was pushed up high, allowing the formation to easily switch from 3-4-3 to 4-3-3 flexibly. This helped them have an extremely proactive game against Juventus and convincingly won a ticket to the quarter-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™.

SOLVING THE CENTRAL PROBLEM

For years, the center forward position has been a concern for Real Madrid. Since Karim Benzema left, the team has struggled to find a worthy replacement. Joselu was only a short-term solution, while Mbappe, although always sharp, is not the typical center forward. But now, the name Gonzalo Garcia is making people believe that Real has found the solution. Under the hands of coach Alonso, Garcia has suddenly become the most prominent factor for Real Madrid at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™. With 3 goals and 1 assist, he is one of the factors that greatly contributed to Real's play in this tournament.

Garcia is a "gem" trained by Castilla himself and scored 3 goals for Real Madrid last season. Possessing good speed, smart positioning and diverse finishing skills, he is a modern striker who can both play the highest and drop back to connect with the back line. What is special about Garcia is his harmony with the system built by Alonso: hard-working pressing, ready to coordinate and always putting the collective interest first, factors that Real Madrid's two attacking stars Vinicius and Mbappe need to learn. Thanks to these factors, Garcia is expected to become Real Madrid's number 1 striker in the near future. In fact, Garcia's rise is raising big questions about Mbappe's future as a striker. Will Real Madrid switch to using the 1998-born star to the left-sided striker position, where he once shone at PSG as well as the French national team?

The tactical changes under coach Alonso are helping Real Madrid gradually become more cohesive and in control. And the emergence of Garcia also shows that the young strategist is willing to create fierce internal competition, where the stars also need to strive to improve themselves. All of this creates an interesting, strange and worth-waiting Real Madrid.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/fifa-club-world-cup-2025-dang-co-mot-real-madrid-rat-khac-185250704220719058.htm