Al Ahly finished third at the Club World Cup after a chaotic play-off saw them win 4-0 against an Al Hilal side who had two players red-carded in the opening 28 minutes.
Egyptian giants Al Ahly were on easy street for much of the game, with Saudi rivals Al Hilal the architects of their own downfall.
Al Ahly took an eighth-minute lead when Yasser Ibrahim headed in from close range, and the first red followed six minutes later when Matheus Pereira went in dangerously on Amr El Soleya near the halfway line.
Another close-range header from Ibrahim put Al Ahly two goals to the good, after Mohamed Hany's fizzing 25-yard drive was parried by Mohammed Al Owais.
A laughably petulant off-the-ball kick by Mohamed Kanno on goalscorer Ibrahim resulted in a second red being brandished by referee Clement Turpin shortly before the half-hour mark, and it was 3-0 inside 40 minutes when Ahmed Radwan danced through the depleted and deflated opposition ranks to flick home from five yards.
El Soleya scored the goal of the game to make it 4-0 in the 64th minute, drilling a 28-yard strike into the bottom-left corner.
Tuchel: Champions League semi-final defeat 'tough to accept'
Thomas Tuchel reflects on "tough to accept" defeat after Real Madrid came from behind to win 2-1 and knock Bayern Munich out of the Champions League on Wednesday.
After a 2-2 draw in the first leg of the semi-final at the Allianz Arena, Bayern took the lead in the 68th minute through Alphonso Davies.
However, Joselu came off the bench to score twice in three minutes to send the LaLiga champions to the Champions League final with a 4-3 aggregate win over Bayern.
"It hurts. It’ll take a while to recover, but on the one hand, it’s a loss where we left it all out on the pitch,” Tuchel told DAZN after the game.
"Of course, it’s tough to accept. It’s part of reality. No regrets. But on the other, there were too many injuries, a few too many substitutions, too many cramps.
"We started with a front four and by the end they were all off the pitch. And then Manu, who had been exceptional in saving us all night, made a mistake he wouldn’t make in another 100 years."
In stoppage time, Matthijs de Ligt had the ball in the back of the net, but the referee had already blown his whistle after the linesman raised his flag, so VAR could not intervene.
The replays showed that the original decision was closer than first thought, and Tuchel was frustrated with how the situation was handled.
Speaking to TNT Sports, Tuchel said: "We are almost through, it's almost there and there was a very unusual mistake from our best player for the equaliser, then we conceded the second one in stoppage time.
"Then we scored one and there was a disastrous decision from the linesman and the referee. It feels like a betrayal in the end. There was a huge fight, we left everything on the pitch, and we were almost there. Now we say congratulations to Real Madrid.
"The linesman says sorry, but that does not help. To raise the flag in a moment like this... The referee sees we get the second ball, and we get the shot - it's a very, very bad decision. It's against the rules. It's a disaster. It's hard to swallow, but that's the way it is."
Manuel Neuer made five saves in the game and looked equal to Madrid’s threat until he spilled the ball in the build-up to Joselu’s first goal.
"Anyone who’s ever played football knows how I’m feeling right now," he told DAZN.
"That we’ve been knocked out in the closing stages, having led 1-0 until the 88th minute, it’s extremely bitter.
"We’d taken one step to London; we saw ourselves in the final, and now I’m lost for words."
Super-sub Joselu strikes again as comeback kings Madrid pounce
Joselu was the hero for Real Madrid as he scored twice off the bench to send them through to the Champions League final.
The Spaniard’s late brace secured Madrid’s comeback after Alphonso Davies had given the German side the lead, securing a 2-1 victory on the night, and a 4-3 win on aggregate to set up a meeting with Borussia Dortmund on June 1.
With only 10 minutes plus stoppage time to make an impact, Joselu made his time on the pitch count.
He scored with both his shots, becoming the oldest substitute to score a brace in a knockout game in the Champions League.
The forward is Madrid’s highest scorer in the competition this season with five goals, netting three of those after coming off the bench.
It is also the second time he has scored a double against a German team in the Champions League this campaign, getting his other against Union Berlin in the group stages.
Bayern were left to rue a late lapse in concentration that saw them concede twice in the space of two minutes and 44 seconds.
After Davies, who has been heavily linked with Los Blancos, became the first Canadian player to score in the knockout stages of the Champions League, with what was his maiden goal in the competition, it was a mistake that led to Madrid's equaliser.
It is the first time since April 2021 against Paris Saint-Germain that Manuel Neuer made an error leading to an opposition goal in the competition.
Bayern have now lost 11 Champions League matches against Madrid, the most one side has lost against another in the competition’s history.
It was always going to be a tough game for Thomas Tuchel’s side even after taking the lead – Madrid have won four matches despite conceding first in the Champions League this season, the most by a side in a single campaign since they won the trophy in 2016-17 (five).
Los Blancos have reached an 18th final in the European Cup/Champions League, but this is the first time they will play the showcase game at Wembley or in England altogether.
Meanwhile, Carlo Ancelotti has reached his sixth Champions League final, two more than any other coach in the history of the competition.
'You can never be settled' – Bellingham dreaming of more after Champions League comeback
Real Madrid can "never be settled" as they hunt down a record-extending 15th European title, so says Jude Bellingham.
LaLiga champions Madrid claimed their place in the Champions League final thanks to Joselu's late double against Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
Joselu came on from the bench to score twice in the space of three minutes to seal a 2-1 victory on the night and a 4-3 win on aggregate.
Alphonso Davies' stunner had put Bayern on the brink, but Madrid will now face Borussia Dortmund – Bellingham's former club – at Wembley on June 1.
"They talk about how they won the 14th, how they want the 15th. You can never be settled," Bellingham told TNT Sports.
"The players feel like family, the fans feel like family.
"When I was seven years old in Birmingham, I was dreaming of nights like this."
Madrid have won four matches despite conceding the first goal in the Champions League this season, the most by a side in a single campaign since Los Blancos themselves in 2016-17 (five), when they went on to lift the trophy.
"There have been a lot of times we have looked dead and buried, but we have that mentality of never say die," Bellingham added.
"There is a reason we turn around so many games, it's because of these lot [the fans]. They give you an energy you can't get from anything else."
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