Marco Asensio and Gareth Bale score as Real Madrid defeat Juventus

After going a down early due to an unfortunate own goal, Real Madrid looking much better at FedEx Field on Saturday as they defeated Juventus 3-1. Here is a full recap of the match.

Some resilience and a clear desire to win helped Los Blancos get some kind of revenge on Juve as the three straight goals from Gareth Bale and two from Marco Asensio was more than enough to help the defending Champions League winners win their first match of the 2018 United States tour.

With many of the regular first teamers starting this match, manager Julen Lopetegui worked in players at the right time and it paid off; especially in the second half.

Match Recap

Unlike in Miami just five days ago, the Spanish giants dominated possession and it showed on the scoreline. After another sluggish start, one that might have been worse than that against Manchester United, the Real Madrid youth players hit their stride a took it to a tired looking Juve side.

This time around, it took the Whites some 15 minutes to shake off the early game rust as the Italian club took the lead off of a Dani Carvajal own goal. As the cross came in from the João Cancelo on the left-wing, Carvajal’s diving effort to block the centering ball deflecting off his leg, off the hand of the goalkeeper Keylor Navas, and into the back of his own net.

Dani recovered after the gaff and played a solid half of football in his first action back since last season. The goal brought a new sense of urgency to the Real Madrid attack as Bale, Karim Benzema, and Isco – playing out on the left wing – continued to push for the equalizing goal.

The goal came by way of the Welsh Dragon, Bale, in the 39th minute as the winger picked up a loose ball in the middle of the pitch and finessed a stunning shot into the top corner, beating goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny with ease.

This brought the predominately Madrid supporting crowd to their feet as they sang their praises for number 11. The offensive pressure did not subside as Lopetegui made a host of changes at the intermission.

The second Real goal came by way of a great linkup between two of the team’s hottest young players, Vinicius Junior and Marco Asensio. The one-two passing led to an easy setup from the young Brazilian to the always clinical Asensio in the 47th minute.

Despite only making his second appearance for Los Blancos, Vinicius looked calm as he squared the ball perfectly for Asensio who redirected it into the net.

Marco wasn’t done there as he pushed forward again not 10 minutes later and used his nifty dribbling to get the brace.

With a little blunder from Szczesny, Real Madrid solidified their lead and wouldn’t let the scoreboard change again. Besides a very good break spearheaded by number 20, setting up Vinicius in the middle, the Spanish side sat back and saw out the match for the final half hour or so as Juventus looked tired from their long tour.