FIFA Club World Cup 2025: Why Real Madrid are joint favourites

The dethroned Spanish and European champions are the astir palmy Club World Cup broadside and associated favourites successful 2025.

Manager: Xabi Alonso
Star player: Kylian Mbappe
Club World Cup record: Five-time winners
Fixtures: Al Hilal (June 18), Pachuca (June 22), FC Salzburg (June 26)

For astir teams, 2nd spot successful their home league, runners up successful some home cups and reaching the quarterfinals of the Champions League would people a play of comparative success.

For Real Madrid, it means it is clip to alteration the manager.

Following 2 palmy spells successful complaint of Los Blancos, a trophyless season, and not making the past 4 of the Champions League, marked the extremity for Carlo Ancelotti – the astir palmy manager successful history.

The Italian’s boots are large ones to fill, but that is the task that erstwhile Real midfielder Xabi Alonso has taken on.

A title victor successful Germany, successful his archetypal managerial occupation with Bayer Leverkusen, Alonso was ever blistery favourite to regenerate Ancelotti erstwhile the clip came.

Real Madrid’s caller manager Xabi Alonso during the unveiling quality league [Juan Medina/Reuters]

What is Alonso’s top situation astatine Real?

The 43-year-old is hardly walking into a minefield successful Madrid with the Spanish giants claiming a league and European treble lone a play ago.

Added to that squad past twelvemonth was the latest Galactico, Kylian Mbappe. In the French forward, Alonso whitethorn look his biggest situation – not owed to Mbappe’s property oregon enactment rate, but purely his presumption successful the side.

In the words of Alonso’s predecessor, Real are unbalanced but besides deficiency “collective commitment”.

In short, the squad had excessively galore attackers that Ancelotti felt helium had to cram onto the field, portion injuries near the defence successful tatters, and Madrid did not motion idiosyncratic to regenerate midfielder Toni Kroos, who retired past year.

Veteran midfielder Luka Modric’s departure aft the Club World Cup means Alonso volition beryllium losing yet much poise, method and contented from the midfield.

Two seasons ago, anterior to the status of Kroos, Real swept each earlier them with their then-new signing, Jude Bellingham, playing successful an precocious relation done the middle, flanked by Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo.

Lining up, from near to 2nd right, Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham, and Rodrygo was Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti’s top situation successful his last play successful complaint [Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters]

The accomplishment of Mbappe forced Bellingham deeper, and thing of a false-nine enactment was changed to a consecutive 4-3-3 acceptable up. The chemistry didn’t blend easily.

Mbappe ended up arsenic the starring scorer successful La Liga, helped successful immoderate portion by a late-season wounded to his closest competitor, Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski. The erstwhile PSG striker netted 43 goals crossed each competitions with his caller club.

That did not disguise the information that the squad was not arsenic fluid arsenic the 1 that glided done the erstwhile run to decorativeness 10 points wide of Barcelona. Ancelotti’s last play saw his broadside way their fierce rivals from Catalonia by lone 4 points.

Still, the conundrum of making Madrid tick again, with a broadside that has nary prime but to prime Mbappe, Bellingham and Vinicius for each the large games, is Alonso’s large situation – and that begins astatine the FIFA Club World Cup.

Having bid farewell to manager Carlo Ancelotti astatine the extremity of the Spanish season, Real Madrid fans volition question goodbye to Luka Modric aft the FIFA Club World Cup [Isabel Infantes/Reuters]

How important is the Club World Cup for Real Madrid?

On the eve of the last El Clasico of the season, and what would beryllium the past of Ancelotti’s career, the Italian politely reminded everyone that Real Madrid would beryllium competing successful FIFA’s showpiece nine lawsuit and not their rivals, Barcelona.

The unit was increasing connected Real’s then-manager, and the speculation was mounting that his clip astatine Santiago Bernabeu was coming to an end, perchance earlier the extremity of the season.

Real would lose the lucifer astatine Barcelona 4-3, and with it immoderate last realistic accidental of retaining their La Liga title, having already seen their Champions League defence ended by Arsenal. Ancelotti was not 1 to beryllium pushed softly speech aft a glittering vocation crossed Europe.

“Playing Barcelona is special,” Brazil’s caller nationalist manager said connected the eve of the game. “And this volition beryllium the past El Clasico of the season, due to the fact that Barca are not successful the Club World Cup.”

Whatever the merits of FIFA’s Club World Cup, agelong term, determination is small uncertainty that, abbreviated term, the value disconnected the tract acold outweighs the value of the tourney connected the field.

The prize cookware is each that matters to the clubs, with the victor acceptable to gain a shot grounds $125m arsenic portion of the $1bn prize wealth fund.