Real Madrid’s 2023/24 campaign got off to a winning start at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Los Angeles in the opening match in the Soccer Champions Tour. Milan went 0-2 up before half-time, but our team flipped the result on its head with a swift Valverde double inside two minutes. Vini Jr. completed the turnaround with 84 minutes gone, latching onto a superb Modrić through ball. Bellingham and Nico Paz both made their debuts.
The game began in even fashion, with Madrid sending off an early warning shot in the form of Valverde’s powerful right-footed drive. Milan responded quickly with Colombo’s effort from the edge of the box (17’), before nine minutes later, the Italians went 0-1 up as Tomori headed home Pulicic’s corner. Pioli’s team made it 0-2 before the break when Romero whipped a precise shot into the top corner leaving Lunin with no chance.
Ancelotti brought on eight new faces to start the second half. Following debuts for Bellingham, Joselu and Brahim, it was the turn of another of this season’s new recruits, Fran García. Madrid pushed forward and with 55 minutes on the clock, they came close to cutting the deficit. Some sweet link-up on the left-hand side between Modrić, Carvajal and Rodrygo saw the latter cut inside his defender but his right-footed curler ended up in Sportiello’s gloves.
Valverde and Vini Jr. clinch victory
Real Madrid once again showed their fighting spirit, drawing the game level with a quick-fire Valverde brace inside two minutes. The Uruguayan opened his account with a strike from outside the box that the goalkeeper failed to keep out, before beating Sportiello again in the very next move with a fierce right-footed effort which snuck inside the left post. With just over an hour gone, Nico Paz replaced Bellingham to make his Real Madrid debut. With six minutes left on the clock, Vini Jr. completed the comeback and sealed the win for our team. Modrić sent a gorgeous ball in behind the defence and the Brazilian outpaced his man to bring the ball down on his chest and finish nicely with his right foot to make it 3-2.
