The "Smart" did not beat the "Mercedes". Real Madrid have logically won 4-1 on Saturday against the very modest Emirati of Al-Ain to win its third consecutive World Club Cup, becoming the most successful team in the history of the competition.
Victory without appeal. The gap, abysmal on paper between the triple champion in the Champions League and the United Arab Emirates club, which was competing in this competition only to represent the host country, materialized in a victory without call. The Merengues, arrived in the Gulf in the midst of crisis after a slow start in La Liga and a change of coach in passing, have dominated the head and shoulders this final in Abu Dhabi, facing a team that had created the sensation by depriving River Plate of a final that everyone was waiting for.
Real Madrid, who has often shown sufficiency in this final and who could have won a much wider score, took the opportunity to raise without great adversity his fourth trophy in five years in World Club. He has thus become the most successful club in the new formula of the competition - formerly called the Intercontinental Cup - in front of his eternal rival FC Barcelona.
Real without forcing. Luo Modric's neo-Golden Ball opened the ball with a coiled strike from the left foot unchecked off the surface (14th, 1-0). In the second half, Marcos Llorente broke the half-volley missile (60th, 2-0) and there was already no suspense when captain Sergio Ramos sent the ball from the -0 in the nets (79th). Al-Ain saved the honor by Tsukasa Shiotani (86th, 3-1) before registering a new goal ... against his side in stoppage time by Yahia Nader (90 + 1, 4-1). "A Smart can beat a Mercedes," joked Zoran Mamic, Croatian coach of Al-Ain before the match. Not when the Mercedes presses the accelerator.