Saturday, June 21, 2025, 17:39
Real Madrid is facing the Mexican Pachuca (9:00 pm) this Sunday on the second day of the group phase of the Club World Cup, in a vital match for the future of the white team in the tournament. The Xabi Alonso team must win to keep his ambitions to qualify for the round of 16 after the draw against Al Hilal (1-1) in the debut of the Guipuzcoan coach on the Meringue Bank.
His second rival in the World Cup, the current Concacaf champion, is in a complicated situation after losing Salzburg (1-2), so in the case of falling he will be eliminated again. The whites beat the Mexican team six months ago, where the team was then led by Carlo Ancelotti played 3-0 in the final of the Intercontinental Cup in December
Xabi Alonso will still not be able to count on Kylian Mbappé, because he is not yet able to play after a gastroenteritis in the United States. The absence of the French star is a problem for Madrid’s coach, because the team has difficulty generating goals and Mbappé is always a very important attack in attack.
The chance of the decline of the Gallic Scorer will benefit from Gonzalo García, who marked the only one in Madrid in the trek against Al Hilal Saudí on the first day. With Xabi Alonso it is quite possible that the young people from the factory have more minutes than with Ancelotti. Moreover, the physical condition of the usual players is not good, so it would not be unusual to see that some youth players in the second half who could sit on the team’s holy cows.
The signing sessions of Madrid, Dean Huijsen and Trent Alexander-Arnold, debuted on the first day of the World Cup and will again be the headlines against Pachuca. Huijsen had a promising premiere in which he left firmness, but above all he stood out for his great ball and game TV. Alexander-Arnold will need Pachuca to be more involved in defensive tasks and more involved in the creation to place a team that had no inspiration.
The playing key goes by some players who are indicated by their low level and that must touch the table. Vinicius, Rodrygo and Bellingham in particular are unable to be players who make a difference in matched matches. Even Courtois himself, who was the one who always gave the most security, now does not hide the impotence of his team. After the draw in the World Cup, the Belgian goalkeeper acknowledged that last season’s problems would not solve in a competition. That is why this meeting against Pachuca will be more focused on improving, although with the white team characterized by the requirement of the results, because in real Madrid it only serves the victory.
A challenge for Xabi Alonso
The heat, the physical moment and the negative dynamics of last season ensured that the team had no brilliant performance in their first match and expectations were reduced after the last stumbling. Xabi Alonso knows that he has a lot of work and will concentrate on correcting tactical aspects to build a Dominator Real Madrid as he did with Bayer Leverkusen, but it will be a slow process. Moreover, you have to restore the best version of some players whose performance has fallen.
The Club World Cup caught the team in a bad time, but it is a competition that Madridists make special illusion for the prestige that would mean that it would be won. That is why, despite the entire context, Madrid starts as a clear favorite to take the game and to be eligible for the first direct draw, waiting to close the first phase at sunrise from Thursday to Friday against Salzburg, because the most laureate team in Europe can never be underestimated.
