While that transfer saga will likely rumble on throughout the summer, the immediate concern for Madrid is the absence of defensive cover for Xabi Alonso at the Club World Cup. Dea

A 3-0 win over RB Salzburg earlier this week, in what president Florentino Perez termed as the team’s best performance under Xabi Alonso, ensured that Real Madrid made it through to the Round of 16

A group-stage exit for Real Madrid at the first expanded Club World Cup would’ve been unthinkable, before a crowd more than 90 percent partial to the Spanish giants. That contingent would’ve grown uncharacteristically uncomfortable had Salzburg converted any of its half-chances in the first half with the game scoreless.