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Preview: Madrid meet familiar foes Dortmund in Club World Cup quarterfinals

Preview: Madrid meet familiar foes Dortmund in Club World Cup quarterfinals

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Two former European champions meet in the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup, but might fatigue have a role to play at the end of a season that’s now stretching into its eleventh month?

By Ian King

Tournament form

Neither of these two teams have awoken slightly from a slumber that seemed to seep into their opening matches, in which Real Madrid failed to beat Al-Hilal while Borussia Dortmund were held to a goalless draw by Fluminense. Both have since done ‘enough’ to get this far without looking much like champions of the world, with Real Madrid beating Juventus and Dortmund beating Monterrey in the last round to set up this meeting.

History repeats itself

If you want history, these two clubs have got history, though the omens don’t look particularly great for Borussia Dortmund. They’ve met 16 times in the Champions League, but Dortmund have only won three of them, and Real have won the last four in a row, one of which just happened to be the 2024 final, while they also beat Dortmund 5-2 in the 2024-25 megagroup stage. Dortmund’s last win came in the first leg of the 2013-14 quarter-finals, when the excitement of a 2-0 win in the first leg was rather undone by losing the return match 3-0 and getting eliminated from the competition.

Key Players

For all the talk of the amount of money that they throw around, it was a graduate of the Real Madrid academy, Goncalo García, who scored the only goal of their win against Juventus in the last round. Having also scored their equaliser in their opening match and their third goal in their last group match against RB Salzburg, he’s becoming their breakout star of the tournament.

For Dortmund, Serhou Guirassy scored both of their goals against Monterrey. He’s now scored 37 goals in 49 appearances for them in all competitions this season; not a bad first season, following his transfer from Stuttgart. 

Team News

Enjoyers of narrative will be disappointed to hear that there will be no Bellingham Derby this time around, after Jobe picked up a second yellow card against Monterrey and picked up a one match suspension. O brother, where art thou?

Real are missing Eduardo Camavinga, David Alaba, Endrick and Ferland Mendy with injuries, while Emre Can, Salih Özcan and Nico Schlotterbeck will all be absent for Dortmund.

Kylian Mbappé returned for Real against Juve, only to find himself overshadowed by understudy Goncalo García. 

Prediction

As the interminable 2024-25 season drags into its eleventh month, it’s difficult to avoid the temptation of wondering about the extent to which fatigue is going to influence this match. This is Real Madrid’s 67th game of the season in all competitions, while it’s Borussia Dortmund’s 55th. 

But while there may be (justified) scoffing about this tournament, Real Madrid are taking it seriously. They were the first winners of the European Cup in 1956 and the first winners of the Intercontinental Cup in 1960. Being the first winners matters to them, so they have the motivation.

They have a young player who’s been scoring goals, and Dortmund are missing their newly-purchased teenage sensation, while Real have won each of their last four meetings in the Champions League, so it’s difficult to see past a Real win. Let’s go for 2-1 Madrid win, and Borussia Dortmund to get in some much-needed rest ahead of the new season. 

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Club World Cup with FotMob this summer – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Preview: Madrid meet familiar foes Dortmund in Club World Cup quarterfinals

Two former European champions meet in the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup, but might fatigue have a role to play at the end of a season that’s now stretching into its eleventh month?

By Ian King

Tournament form

Neither of these two teams have awoken slightly from a slumber that seemed to seep into their opening matches, in which Real Madrid failed to beat Al-Hilal while Borussia Dortmund were held to a goalless draw by Fluminense. Both have since done ‘enough’ to get this far without looking much like champions of the world, with Real Madrid beating Juventus and Dortmund beating Monterrey in the last round to set up this meeting.

History repeats itself

If you want history, these two clubs have got history, though the omens don’t look particularly great for Borussia Dortmund. They’ve met 16 times in the Champions League, but Dortmund have only won three of them, and Real have won the last four in a row, one of which just happened to be the 2024 final, while they also beat Dortmund 5-2 in the 2024-25 megagroup stage. Dortmund’s last win came in the first leg of the 2013-14 quarter-finals, when the excitement of a 2-0 win in the first leg was rather undone by losing the return match 3-0 and getting eliminated from the competition.

Key Players

For all the talk of the amount of money that they throw around, it was a graduate of the Real Madrid academy, Goncalo García, who scored the only goal of their win against Juventus in the last round. Having also scored their equaliser in their opening match and their third goal in their last group match against RB Salzburg, he’s becoming their breakout star of the tournament.

For Dortmund, Serhou Guirassy scored both of their goals against Monterrey. He’s now scored 37 goals in 49 appearances for them in all competitions this season; not a bad first season, following his transfer from Stuttgart. 

Team News

Enjoyers of narrative will be disappointed to hear that there will be no Bellingham Derby this time around, after Jobe picked up a second yellow card against Monterrey and picked up a one match suspension. O brother, where art thou?

Real are missing Eduardo Camavinga, David Alaba, Endrick and Ferland Mendy with injuries, while Emre Can, Salih Özcan and Nico Schlotterbeck will all be absent for Dortmund.

Kylian Mbappé returned for Real against Juve, only to find himself overshadowed by understudy Goncalo García. 

Prediction

As the interminable 2024-25 season drags into its eleventh month, it’s difficult to avoid the temptation of wondering about the extent to which fatigue is going to influence this match. This is Real Madrid’s 67th game of the season in all competitions, while it’s Borussia Dortmund’s 55th. 

But while there may be (justified) scoffing about this tournament, Real Madrid are taking it seriously. They were the first winners of the European Cup in 1956 and the first winners of the Intercontinental Cup in 1960. Being the first winners matters to them, so they have the motivation.

They have a young player who’s been scoring goals, and Dortmund are missing their newly-purchased teenage sensation, while Real have won each of their last four meetings in the Champions League, so it’s difficult to see past a Real win. Let’s go for 2-1 Madrid win, and Borussia Dortmund to get in some much-needed rest ahead of the new season. 

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Club World Cup with FotMob this summer – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.