Real Madrid is the great favorite to win the recovered Intercontinental Cup this afternoon in Doha (Qatar) against the Mexican Pachuca, a team that has reached this final after eliminating the Brazilian Botafogo, champion of the Libertadores (0-3), and against Egyptian Al Ahly on Saturday on penalties after a 0-0 draw.
For the whites it would be the second official trophy of the season after the European Super Cup in Warsaw in August against Atalanta. The Intercontinental stopped being played in 2005, when FIFA replaced it with the Club World Cup (which expands in June and in which Real Madrid and Atlético will also participate). It was a trophy that suffered many vicissitudes and that always had much more popularity in America than in Europe.
The tournament for Madrid
Little prestige if you win and ridiculous if you lose
Although the official discourse is very different, Madrid has not been very happy about interrupting a season so full of matches to spend six hours on a plane to come to Doha to face a team that will play the game of its life while for what Whites winning will give them little prestige and losing will be the subject of ridicule and memes.
Bellingham blamed the 27 injuries yesterday on the overloaded schedule. To make matters worse, Madrid found that the Lusail stadium had the grass in poor condition. “FIFA has asked us to train just enough and in a specific part so as not to harm him further,” according to club sources. Another reason for complaint is that FIFA “has maintained extra time for this final in the event of a tie, which is ridiculous and has already been removed from minor trophies,” explain the same sources.
The record
Madrid has eight titles between Intercontinental and Club World Cup
Madrid has already won eight titles between the Intercontinental and the Club World Cup. He is looking for the ninth, although as an Intercontinental it would be the fourth Cup after those he added against Peñarol, Vasco de Gama and Olimpia de Asunción, the latter two with the galacticos. They have lost two finals, against Peñarol and Boca Juniors.
Pachuca, coached by Uruguayan Guillermo Almada and in which Borja Bastón from Madrid plays, beat Botafogo in the final four and throughout the tournament they have not conceded a goal, demonstrating their defensive strength, their main weapon. Its main attacking figures are the Venezuelan Salomón Rondón, who has 26 goals in 2024 and was at Málaga, and the Dutch-Moroccan Oussana-Idrissi, who went through Sevilla.
If he wins the title, it will be the fifteenth that Ancelotti has won with Madrid and will surpass Miguel Muñoz by one, with whom he ties at the top of that ranking. The Italian believes that Mbappé is ready to play. Madrid hopes not to suffer too much but knows that it will only have a peaceful Christmas if it beats Sevilla on Sunday
#Real #Madrid #favorite #Pachuca
