Real Madrid’s first goal of the Xabi Alonso era came from an unlikely source in their Club World Cup opener with Al Hilal.

Alonso did not have the option of selecting Kylian Mbappe for his first game since succeeding Carlo Ancelotti as head coach, the France star out because of a fever.

He named new signings Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dean Huijsen in his first starting XI, but it was Al-Hilal who dominated the early stages with Renan Lodi seeing a goal correctly disallowed for offside.

However, after the cooling break, Madrid broke the deadlock in the 34th minute, with the man deputising for Mbappe making the most of his opportunity.

Al Hilal were caught on the counter and Rodrygo’s perfectly placed low cross allowed Gonzalo Garcia to score only his second goal for the club despite the 21-year-old’s untidy finish.

But Al Hilal got their reward for an impressive first-half showing six minutes later as they equalised through Ruben Neves’ penalty, awarded after Raul Asencio brought down Marcos Leonardo, with an underwhelming opening period from Madrid underlining the challenge ahead of Alonso in 2025-26.