Real Madrid shuts down Juventus at the Rose Bowl

Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema takes a penalty kick and scores against Juventus goalie Perin Mattia during the first half of the Soccer Champions Tour match at the Rose Bowl. PHOTO BY RAUL ROMERO JR,

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By Josh Gross

Correspondent

Pasadena >> Making final preparations for the upcoming European season, a pair of the continent’s iconic clubs, Real Madrid and Juventus, delivered the largest attendance for a soccer match in the U.S. this year at the Rose Bowl.

The final contest of the Soccer Champions Tour — a four-city, five-match series of exhibitions over a nine-day stretch — concluded Saturday night as a crowd of 93,702 produced a white-out in the stands representing the home jerseys of both clubs.

Real Madrid dismissed their Italian competitors, 2-0.

The friendly topped the attendance number established last weekend in Green Bay, Wisc., when Bayern Munich and Manchester United drew 78,128 spectators to Lambeau Field. In March, 74,479 filled Bank of America Stadium when Charlotte FC hosted the Galaxy in a Major League Soccer regular-season contest.

Real Madrid, the current UEFA Champions League winners, went ahead in the opening 20 minutes when French striker Karim Benzema snapped a hard strike from the penalty spot to beat Juventus goalkeeper Perin Mattia.

The opportunity came following a giveaway by Juventus and a sloppy missed clearance that allowed speedy Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior to run free into the box, where he was hacked to the ground by his countryman, Danilo Da Silva.

After the hour mark, following numerous substitutions on both sides, Madrid added to its lead when forward Marco Asensio tapped in a shot that was setup by a series of passes around the Juventus box.

Real Madrid resumes competitive action when they face Europa League titlists Eintracht Frankfurt in the UEFA Super Cup Aug. 10 in Helsinki, Finland. Their La Liga opener comes four days later.

Juventus, which finished fourth in its league last season, will play in an additional exhibition match on Aug. 7 against Atletico Madrid at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel, before the Serie A schedule starts the following week.

The inaugural Soccer Champions Tour, promoted by AEG, yielded an average attendance nearing 60,000 as Real Madrid, Juventus, FC Barcelona, Chivas Guadalajara and Club America visited Las Vegas, San Francisco, Dallas and, finally, Los Angeles.