Julián Álvarez gave a masterclass and eliminated Fluminense to give City their first world title

Manchester City He completed a dream 2023 and is the new champion of Club World Cup. And he did it with solvency in the land rich in dollars and oil that it is Saudi Arabia. They mercilessly crushed Fluminense, Boca’s executioners, 4-0 in the Copa Libertadores final. The great figure of the evening in the imposing King Abdullah Sports City stadium, in the no less imposing Jeddah, was Giuliano Alvarez. Without discussion. A chest goal to open the match when not even a minute had been played, an assist to Phil Foden for the 3-0 run that transformed the victory into a defeat and a definition top of the range to close the evening. It was a masterclasses of the former River, who incredibly didn’t even keep the Ballon d’Or, which went to the Spaniard Rodrinor with the Silver Ball, received by his teammate Kyle Walkernor with the Bronze Ball, which was left in the hands of Giovanni Ariasof the Brazilian team.

It was, it is insisted, a demonstration of efficiency on Julián’s part. There were only 39 seconds left in the game when he recorded his name on the scoreboard. And also in history: No one had ever scored so quickly in a Club World Cup match.. It was a goalscorer’s goal. Shot by the Dutchman Nathan Aké from outside the area, bounced off the right post and appeared Spider put your chest inside, like Lionel Messi in the final of Club World Cup that Barcelona beat Estudiantes, to push the ball into the back of the goal defended by the stainless Fábio who didn’t really understand what had happened.

None of their players had touched a ball and Fluminense was already on the uphill path in this story. However, despite premature abuse, Fernando Diniz’s team did not let themselves get out of control. He came out to play his ball possession game, even if pushed by the pressure very high of City did it almost on the goal line. And so he seemed to be constantly on the brink mistake.

The viral game didn’t happen, but the second goal of the evening came thanks to the feet of Nino, the captain of Fluminense, who tried to clear a Foden cross and ended up disorientating Fábio. The lead, at that point, in the 27th minute of the first half, was already deserved.

Julián Álvarez, after the initial goal, dedicated himself to his other role, that of serial pusher. And that’s how he became the first recoverer. Tireless the Spider. Did Flo do something? Little, very little. A long range shot from Germán Cano, some passes from Keno and a header from Jhon Arias were their short repertoire before the end of the first half.

The second half was unnecessary. Well, almost everything remained after Julián’s great failure. Until the awards ceremony without a special prize for the Argentinian… Fluminense, beyond the changes made by Diniz – who at a certain point removed Marcelo, Felipe Melo and Paulo Ganso en masse – did not have many ideas and tools to overturn history.

And less when Foden scored the third, with 27 of the complementor, after a run and an assist from Julián Álvarez, who was already making himself noticed in the Saudi night. The former River player played in Messi mode and not just for his big chest: he appeared at the right moments to unbalance and so City did not miss the Norwegian Erling Haaland at all, who watched the match from the stands after an injury that left him out of the squad.

Already two minutes from the end – literally because the Polish Szymon Marciniak, the one in the Qatar 2022 final, did not add a second -, Julián has left his mark once again. He controlled the ball inside the area, moved it to the right and delivered a low cross to fill the goal again. Exceptional.

We insist and do not exaggerate: Álvarez is only 23 years old and has already won 15 titles between River, National and City, where he competed in five Olympic tours. He has already become a fundamental piece of Guardiola, who also made history: he reached his fourth Club World Cup and left Carlo Ancelotti and Carlos Bianchi behind him.