Real Madrid 2-1 Fiorentina: Trofeo Santiago Bernabéu, match report, as it happened, goals
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Real Madrid 2-1 Fiorentina: match report
Real Madrid won the 39th edition of the Santiago Bernabeu Trophy on Wednesday night with a 2-1 victory over Fiorentina with goals from Borja Mayoral and Cristiano Ronaldo striking out an opener from Jordan Veretout.
Fiorentina started far better than their opponents and had the lead after four minutes when Jordan Veretout fired home from just outside the box as Kiko Casilla stood still watching the ball go in off the post.
It wasn't long though before Real Madrid had them pegged back when Borja Mayoral scored three minutes later when Ronaldo made space for himself on the left and let fly with a cross/shot that found Mayoral at the back post and he poked home.
It was Ronaldo involved later to send Real Madrid ahead too and it was the moment of the match. Ronaldo got the ball in a similar position as the one before. He did a stepover and cut inside before waiting for the perfect chance to unleash a curling right footed effort into the top corner. No chance for Sportiello as he watched it sail over his head.
Real Madrid were ahead and that's where they would stay.
Zinedine Zidane made a number of changes in the second half with Ronaldo, Achraf and Theo the only players staying on for the entire game with those players unlikely to play any part on Sunday in LaLiga against Valencia.
In any case, Real Madrid won a tame affair to claim their 12th consecutive Bernabeu Trophy and their 27th time in it's history. Most importantly, however, is that they have Valencia on Sunday at their home stadium and appeared to get through tonight with a clean bill of health.
Real Madrid vs Fiorentina live stream online: latest news
Real Madrid vs Fiorentina live stream online: match preview
On their way to 11 consecutive wins in the exhibition game, Real Madrid have beaten Mexico's Pumas, Anderlecht, Partizan, Sporting Clube de Portugal, Rosenborg, Peñarol, Millonarios, Al-Sadd, Galatasaray twice and Stade de Reims.
Real Madrid
Zinedine Zidane admits that he has the squad he wants now and hopes it doesn't change. There are a few question marks over some on the bench, however, and more who didn't make the squad against Deportivo la Coruña and it will be a good chance for Zidane and fans alike to appraise the talent at the other end of the squad.
The reigning Liga champions welcome Valencia to the same venue on Sunday night and will want to ensure that they avoid injury but you can expect a balance of the more veteran members of the panel along with some of the youth that arrived during the summer.
Cristiano Ronaldo was handed down a five-game ban, which was uphelp by TAD on Wedensday night, and still has three of those encounters to go before he can wear the white strip again this season. He missed the entire preseason and only arrived back after Real Madrid had played Barcelona in the Miami Clásico but is in perfect shape. Zidane has confirmed he will play the Portuguese star the full 90 minutes to get him gametime and hone his match sharpness ahead of the international break and his eventual return to the first team setup.
Zidane says, "Let's hope that we continue on in the same vein. We've made a really good start but we're aware that it's a long old season. The LaLiga campaign has only started and there are 38 matchdays in total and it'll require a massive effort. We're happy with how we're performing. We want to continue in the same vein, particularly in terms of the way that we're playing. If we can continue to play well then we'll be happy".
Fiorentina
The Italians suffered a comprehensive 3-0 loss to Inter Milan to start their Serie A adventure. They have added Carlos Sanchez from Aston Villa along with Marco Benassi from Torino but the main signing, and the one many Madrid fans will be watching tomorrow night is Gio Simeone, the song of Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone. He was brought in during the summer from Genoa for €15 million. All three are in the squad tomorrow including Jordan Veretout, another former Aston Villa player and the Real Betis player currently on loan in Italy, German Pezzella.
Fiorentina squad:
Astori, Badelj, Benassi, Biraghi, Cerofolini, Chiesa, Cristoforo, Dias, Dragowski, Eysseric, Gaspar, Hagi, Babacar, Mati Fernandez, Milenkovic, Olivera, Hristov, Pezzella, Sanchez, Simeone, Sportiello, Tomovic, Veretout, Vitor Hugo, Zekhnini.
Trofeo Santiago Bernabeú Trophy honours list
Real Madrid 26
Bayern Munich 3
Milan 2
Inter 2
Hamburg 1
Dynamo Kiev 1
Ajax 1
Pumas 1
