Gonzalo Garcia sent Real Madrid into the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup as he settled their last-16 clash with Juventus, which saw Kylian Mbappe make his return.
Mbappe had missed the first three games of the tournament with gastroenteritis, but was named on the bench for the tie in Miami.
He had to wait until the 68th minute to make his return, replacing Garcia, whose third goal of the tournament 14 minutes earlier ultimately proved decisive.
Madrid should have sealed progression in more emphatic fashion, but 10 saves from Juve goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio ensured the scoreline was kept respectable. Xabi Alonso’s men now await the winner of the tie between Borussia Dortmund and Monterrey in the last eight.
Real Madrid v Juventus
Juventus started very brightly and should have taken the lead in the seventh minute when Randal Kolo Muani was sent through on goal after combining neatly with Kenan Yildiz. However, Kolo Muani could not hit the target, his lob landing on the roof of the net.
Yildiz then saw a long-range effort deflected wide, as did Aurelien Tchouameni at the other end as Madrid struggled to cut through a Juve defence that had been torn to pieces by Manchester City in their final group game.
Madrid were reduced to efforts from distance for most of the first half, but they did show some incisiveness on the half-hour mark, only for Jude Bellingham to see his close-range effort cleared off the line.
A rasping long-range drive from Fede Valverde forced Di Gregorio into a fine diving save in first-half stoppage time, with the Uruguayan then curling wide shortly after the restart.
Bellingham saw another ambitious effort sting the palms of Di Gregorio, who was then almost caught out by a dipping long-range strike from former Juve defender Dean Huijsen.
But the deadlock was finally broken as Garcia once again made his mark by rising to meet Trent Alexander-Arnold’s right-wing cross with a powerful header that left Di Gregorio with no chance.
Di Gregorio had to be alert to keep out a bicycle kick from Valverde before Mbappe entered the fray to a rapturous reception and teed up Arda Guler at the end of a well-worked move, yet the Turkey international was thwarted by the legs of the Juve keeper.
Tchouameni drew a fingertip save from Di Gregorio as he continued to frustrate Madrid, but Juve never threatened to punish Los Blancos’ profligacy as they exited the tournament with a whimper.
