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Preview: Real Madrid round off the Group Stage against Salzburg

Preview: Real Madrid round off the Group Stage against Salzburg

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The easy part for Real Madrid is done: new manager in, new marquee signings in. Now comes the hard part: making sure the revamp yields wins and, in time, titles. The Club World Cup might be a stretch in terms of judging Xabi Alonso, but clearly there’s work to do.

By Karl Matchett

Teething troubles

For a manager who has, until now, habitually played with a back three, moving to Real Madrid who haven’t done so with any regularity for at least a couple of decades represented a dilemma. So far, Alonso has opted for a 4-3-3 and continuity – whether that’s the case after a pre-season remains to be seen. But it hasn’t been plain sailing. New addition Trent Alexander-Arnold has shown defensive insecurities more than once already, Raúl Asencio was sent-off seven minutes into their last match and while keeping the back four the same to start both games can help starting to breed familiarity, the central pairing are 20 and 22 years old. Some errors are to be expected.

Real Madrid’s last starting XI

Defensive woes for both

At the other end of the pitch in this game it might be a similar matter. Salzburg are not, to be sure, the defensive clown show they were in the brief reign of Pepijn Lijnders last season, when both Sturm Graz and Bayer Leverkusen – then coached by Alonso of course – managed to score five past them. But despite a clear uptick in results, both games at the Club World Cup have still shown they are rather more open than they’d like: despite taking four points so far, both Pachuca and Al Hilal out-shot Salzburg and tallied a better xG, 1.4 for the Mexicans and 1.49 for the Saudis. Real might not be all guns blazing, but they still have elite attackers. Openness at the back will be an issue.

Recent form

Salzburg won three of the last four in the Austrian Bundesliga campaign, then have won and drawn in their two at the Club World Cup. Real Madrid actually suffered five defeats in the last 12 across all competitions before the season proper ended, but still won their last three in LaLiga and have similarly drawn and won in the US.

Team news

Karim Konaté is a long-term absentee for Salzburg and Nicolás Capaldo has a broken toe. Real Madrid will be without the suspended Asencio, as well as six injured players including Endrick and Eduardo Camavinga. Doubts remain over Kylian Mbappé, who has been ill, but the Frenchman has returned to training this week.

Key player

A win for either side guarantees passage to the next round while the loser would need to await the group’s other game. In the absence of defensive solidity, then, a big attacking performance from Vinícius Júnior would be welcomed, as he’s been sub-par so far, scoring and assisting precisely zero. He has had three shots and created four chances – a total xA of 0.99 combined – so really needs to step it up.

Madrid’s best rated players at the tournament so far

Prediction

Real Madrid should have enough about them to score a couple of times, given the number of chances Salzburg give up, but it won’t be one-way traffic. Salzburg 1-3 Real Madrid.

(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: Real Madrid round off the Group Stage against Salzburg

The easy part for Real Madrid is done: new manager in, new marquee signings in. Now comes the hard part: making sure the revamp yields wins and, in time, titles. The Club World Cup might be a stretch in terms of judging Xabi Alonso, but clearly there’s work to do.

By Karl Matchett

Teething troubles

For a manager who has, until now, habitually played with a back three, moving to Real Madrid who haven’t done so with any regularity for at least a couple of decades represented a dilemma. So far, Alonso has opted for a 4-3-3 and continuity – whether that’s the case after a pre-season remains to be seen. But it hasn’t been plain sailing. New addition Trent Alexander-Arnold has shown defensive insecurities more than once already, Raúl Asencio was sent-off seven minutes into their last match and while keeping the back four the same to start both games can help starting to breed familiarity, the central pairing are 20 and 22 years old. Some errors are to be expected.

Real Madrid’s last starting XI

Defensive woes for both

At the other end of the pitch in this game it might be a similar matter. Salzburg are not, to be sure, the defensive clown show they were in the brief reign of Pepijn Lijnders last season, when both Sturm Graz and Bayer Leverkusen – then coached by Alonso of course – managed to score five past them. But despite a clear uptick in results, both games at the Club World Cup have still shown they are rather more open than they’d like: despite taking four points so far, both Pachuca and Al Hilal out-shot Salzburg and tallied a better xG, 1.4 for the Mexicans and 1.49 for the Saudis. Real might not be all guns blazing, but they still have elite attackers. Openness at the back will be an issue.

Recent form

Salzburg won three of the last four in the Austrian Bundesliga campaign, then have won and drawn in their two at the Club World Cup. Real Madrid actually suffered five defeats in the last 12 across all competitions before the season proper ended, but still won their last three in LaLiga and have similarly drawn and won in the US.

Team news

Karim Konaté is a long-term absentee for Salzburg and Nicolás Capaldo has a broken toe. Real Madrid will be without the suspended Asencio, as well as six injured players including Endrick and Eduardo Camavinga. Doubts remain over Kylian Mbappé, who has been ill, but the Frenchman has returned to training this week.

Key player

A win for either side guarantees passage to the next round while the loser would need to await the group’s other game. In the absence of defensive solidity, then, a big attacking performance from Vinícius Júnior would be welcomed, as he’s been sub-par so far, scoring and assisting precisely zero. He has had three shots and created four chances – a total xA of 0.99 combined – so really needs to step it up.

Madrid’s best rated players at the tournament so far

Prediction

Real Madrid should have enough about them to score a couple of times, given the number of chances Salzburg give up, but it won’t be one-way traffic. Salzburg 1-3 Real Madrid.

(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.