Alonso: Pachuca win should give Madrid confidence to perform without Mbappe

Xabi Alonso believes that Real Madrid's victory over Pachuca at the Club World Cup will give his team the confidence that they can perform without Kylian Mbappe.

Alonso picked up his first win since replacing Carlo Ancelotti as 10-man Madrid triumphed 3-1 against Pachuca to move to the summit of the Group H standings. 

Jude Bellingham and Arda Guler gave Madrid a comfortable lead at half-time despite seeing Raul Asencio sent off in the seventh-minute for a last-man foul on Salomon Rondon. 

But Alonso's team were able to pull further clear through captain Federico Valverde 20 minutes from time, with Elias Montiel netting a late consolation for the Mexican side. 

Madrid have attempted 27 shots in their two matches with Alonso, their second-lowest tally after the first two games with the same manager in all competitions since at least 2009-10 under Julen Lopetegui (24).

That was not helped by the absence of Mbappe, who was not involved for Madrid on Sunday after being admitted to hospital earlier this week, though the France international has since been discharged. 

Despite that, Alonso believes that Madrid's victory without their star striker and with a man less for much of the match is a solid foundation for his team to build on. 

"For sure, psychologically, mentally, and the boost is really important to build on this win," Alonso said. "I think we can take many positives, but we need to keep going.

"It's great to be back in Madrid and to be the coach of this club. It takes time to get what we want, but we are feeling good in the first stages."

Alonso was on hand to discuss Asencio's early dismissal, with the young Spaniard enduring a difficult start to his Club World Cup campaign so far. 

Indeed, he became the first European player to be sent off and concede a penalty in the same edition of the FIFA Club World Cup since at least 2010.

"He is sad, disappointed, but these are things that we have to learn from," Alonso said.

"It is better to concede one goal than to be left with ten. Asencio should not have made that mistake. We will talk to him."

The Madrid boss also praised Valverde's display, with the midfielder netting Madrid's final goal with a sliding finish from Brahim Diaz's inviting cross. 

Valverde also ended the contest with team-high totals for interceptions (two) and shots (two, level with Bellingham, Guler and Vinicius Junior), while only Vinicus (20) played more passes in the final third than the Uruguayan (12, level with Fran Garcia). 

Alonso likened Valverde to his former Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard, and expects his captain to lead Madrid's charge to another Club World Cup title after overcoming his penalty miss against Al-Hilal in their opening group game. 

"Valverde is a Steven Gerrard profile. He reminds me of Gerrard, with his runs, because of how he arrives, because of the profile," Alonso said. 

"I'm very happy to train him and for him for the goal. I think all coaches would like to have a Fede Valverde in the team.

"You can see in the celebration the passion and grit that Fede has. The bad taste has been removed from his mouth."