Preview: Real Madrid vs Al-Hilal - prediction, team news, lineups

Real Madrid will officially kick off the Xabi Alonso era when they face Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in Wednesday’s Club World Cup clash at Hard Rock Stadium.

Al-Hilal also head into the tournament under new management after recently appointing Simone Inzaghi following his departure from Inter Milan.

Match preview

Real Madrid may have won the UEFA Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup, but the 2024-25 campaign will ultimately go down as a failure after losing out to Barcelona in the title race, the Copa del Rey final, and the Spanish Super Cup final. 

Experienced manager Carlo Ancelotti left his role at the end of the disappointing season, leaving a year before the end of his contract to become the new head coach of the Brazil national team.

Alonso was swiftly announced as Ancelotti’s successor, after he decided to call time on his successful stint as Bayer Leverkusen boss to return to the club where he made 236 competitive appearances and won multiple honours, including a La Liga title and a Champions League trophy. 

The 43-year-old has already seen his squad strengthened by the additions of Dean Huijsen, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Franco Mastantuono, although the latter will arrive after the Club World Cup.

Alonso has the chance to win a trophy before he even starts his first season, as Los Blancos look to win their sixth Club World Cup after previously lifting the trophy in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2022. 

Real Madrid are the overwhelming favourites to finish top of Group H, with the Spanish giants set to follow Wednesday’s clash against Al-Hilal with games against Mexico’s Pachuca and Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg.

Just over two weeks ago, Inzaghi oversaw Inter’s heavy 5-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in a one-sided Champions League final in Munich.

The Italian soon left his post by mutual consent, bringing an end to his four-year tenure as Inter boss, which saw him win a Serie A title, two Italian Cups and two Italian Super Cups.

A day after his Inter exit, Inzaghi was confirmed as Al-Hilal’s new manager, taking over a side that finished in second place and 13 points adrift of Saudi Pro League winners Al-Ittihad.

Inzaghi will be tasked with reclaiming Al-Hilal’s Saudi Pro League title in 2025-26, but first, he will look to steer his new side through the Club World Cup group stage, although they face a tough task in their tournament opener against the 15-time European champions.

While they will be the obvious underdogs, they may fancy their chances of troubling Real Madrid’s backline after netting 95 goals in 34 matches to finish the 2024-25 campaign as the Saudi Pro League’s highest scorers.

They will remember scoring three goals in a valiant effort in a 5-3 defeat to Real Madrid in the 2022 Club World Cup final in Morocco.

Real Madrid form (all competitions)

L W L W W W

Al-Hilal form (all competitions)

L W W W D W

Team News

Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, David Alaba, Eduardo Camavinga and Ferland Mendy have all travelled to the USA despite their injury issues.

However, the quintet are unlikely to play a role in Wednesday’s contest, while it remains to be seen whether Antonio Rudiger will be fit after undergoing meniscus in April.

Brazilian forward Endrick is not expected to play in the tournament after he sustained a hamstring injury last month.

Alexander-Arnold and Huijsen are both set to make their highly-anticipated debuts following their arrivals from Liverpool and Bournemouth respectively.

At the opposite end of the pitch, Kylian Mbappe will look to continue his form from his first La Liga campaign, after he netted 31 goals in 34 league appearances to win the Pichichi and the European Golden Shoe.

As for Al-Hilal, Inzaghi will likely implement his favoured 3-5-2 formation, which may require some adjustment from the Al-Hilal squad.

Bono should feature between the posts, with the former Sevilla goalkeeper set to be shielded by Kalidou Koulibaly, Hassan Tambakti and Ali Al-Bulayhi.

After missing the final six games of the season, former Barcelona defender Joao Cancelo will hope to prove his fitness in time to play as one of the two wing-backs.

Aleksandar Mitrovic will be one of Al-Hilal’s main attacking threats after scoring 28 goals in 36 competitive appearances in the 2024-25 campaign.

Real Madrid possible starting lineup:

Courtois; Alexander-Arnold, Asencio, Huijsen, Garcia; Valverde, Tchouameni, Bellingham; Rodrygo, Vinicius, Mbappe

Al-Hilal possible starting lineup:

Bono; Tambakti, Koulibaly, Al-Bulayhi; Cancelo, Kanno, Neves, Milinkovic-Savic, S. Al-Dawsari; Malcolm, Mitrovic

We say: Real Madrid 3-1 Al-Hilal

Wednesday's contest represents the first chance for Alonso to implement his ideas in a competitive environment, and while Real Madrid are adjusting to life under the new manager, we still believe they will showcase their extra class and quality to claim a comfortable victory in their tournament opener. 

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