Real Madrid won the Club World Cup for the fifth time on Satruday, following a 5-3 win over Al-Hilal in the final.
Vinicius and Fede Vaverde both scored a brace in the emphatic win with the Brazilian and the Uruguayan proving too much for the Saudi Arabian champions.
There was a goal for Karim Benzema who made the final back from injury, as he had failed to do at the World Cup last December.
It’s the second trophy of the season after they won the Uefa Super Cup at the start of the season.
It was not always convincing but it’s tough to lose a final when you score five and powered on by Vinicius who is emerging as a real leader of this Madrid team.
They took the lead on 13 minutes when Benzema swapped passes with Valverde and from the Frenchman’s pass, Vinicius’ finished past Abdullah Al-Mayouf in Al-Hilal’s goal.
It was two just four minutes later when Valverde blasted home a loose ball in the area after Luka Modric’s cross had not been cleared.
It was Valverde’s 10th goal of the season in all competitions. Carlo Ancelotti had said at the start of the season that if he didn’t get into double figures he would rip up his coaching badges.
Just as it looked as if Madrid would run away with the final Moussa Marega pulled a goal back for the Saudi Arabian champions.
It was a long ball over the top for Marega who raced clear and slipped his shot under the dive of Andriy Lunin who was playing in place of the injured Thibaut Courtois.
If Madrid feared it would slip away from them in the second half they found another gear.
Vinicius was the architect of the third. After linking up well with Eduardo Camavinga he crossed with the outside of his right foot for Benzema to score.
And with their next attack it was four when Dani Carvajal crossed from the right and Valverde got his second clipping the ball over Al-Mayouf.
Al-Hilal pulled another goal back when former Villarreal and Atletico Madrid forward Luciano Vietto scored but again it was short lived.
Vinicius cut in from the left and scored his second and Madrid’s fifth although it didn’t end the game as a contest because Vietto got his second with 11 minutes still to play. There were eight added minutes but Madrid held on.
They have not been at their best in Morocco and Marega might have made it more interesting with five minutes left but missed a clear chance to make it 5-4.
The Champions of Europe had enough though and they can say that for the eighth time they are also club Champions of the world.