Real Madrid vs Pachuca Preview

After dropping points in their opening game against Al Hilal, Real Madrid will look to record their first win in this Club World Cup (CWC) cycle when they play Mexican top flight side Pachuca at the Bank of America Stadium this Sunday.

Xabi Alonso’s side were close to beating Al-Hilal on Wednesday only to see Federico Valverde’s late penalty saved. At least Alonso, who admitted not enjoying their first-half performance “too much”, avoided defeat in his first game in charge, and there were encouraging debuts for defenders Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dean Huijsen despite the fact that Los Blancos’ impressive run of ten straight CWC wins came to an end.

They will now look to restart their winning run against a team they beat 3-0 the last time both sides met in the Intercontinental Cup.

Meanwhile, Pachuca are on the verge of being kicked out of the Club World Cup unless they can muster a win here. The Mexican club lost their first game to RB Salzburg, leaving them bottom of the group.

The Gophers, who have twice reached the semi-finals under the old CWC format, enter this fixture winless in their last three competitive outings (D1, L2) so new boss Jaime Lozano has his work cut out as he tries to mastermind just their fifth ever victory in this competition (L6).