Xabi Alonso highlights where Real Madrid must improve after his first game in charge ends in a draw | OneFootball

Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso says his side must improve after they drew 1-1 with Al Hilal in their opening Club World Cup match.

In Alonso’s first competitive match in charge of Real, the 43-year-old had to do without a host of regular first team stars, including forward Kylian Mbappe, who was unavailable due to illness.

Madrid took the lead through youngster Gonzalo Garcia in the 34th minute before Ruben Neves equalised for the Saudi Pro League side seven minutes later from the penalty spot.

Federico Valverde missed a penalty in second-half injury time as Los Blancos got their Group H campaign underway with a draw.

After a first half where they were second best to a competitive Al Hilal, the Spaniard was pleased with how his side reacted after half-time.

“I didn’t like the first half too much,” Alonso said. “We didn’t play very well, we didn’t have good ball circulation, we were very wide, and we didn’t know how to adjust when we lost the ball.

“We’ll have to look at that to react. We reacted in the second half; we had much better balance on the ball. We got close to the box and were able to drown them out a bit more.

“We still needed to be a little more precise in those final meters. Regardless of the result, we have to keep seeing positives.

“We should have more composure with the ball. At first, we tried to play too quickly and lost the ball without passing, and then the game opened up.

“In the second half, we were much more balanced, we brought more quality to our play, we were better, but we lacked finishing.”

Both of Madrid’s new signings Dean Huijsen and Trent Alexander-Arnold made their debuts for the club, with Huijsen playing the full game whilst Alexander-Arnold was substituted 65 minutes in.

“Well, Dean was great, and Trent was improving, like everyone else,” Alonso said. “Happy for them.”