Real Madrid are hunting yet another piece of silverware as they face Mexican side Pachuca in the 2024 Intercontinental Cup final on Wednesday evening.

The six confederate champions have once again collided at the end of the year in a bid to claim global supremacy. Madrid are playing their first game of the tournament on Wednesday having lifted the 2024 Champions League trophy in June.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men were crowned world champions for the eighth time last year and are heavy favourites to secure a ninth title in Qatar.

Pachuca have upset the odds to advance into Wednesday’s showpiece event. They earned their sixth CONCACAF Champions Cup title earlier this year to qualify for the Intercontinental Cup. So far, they have stunned Copa Libertadores champions Botafogo and African giants Al Ahly to set up this historic meeting with Madrid.

Here’s 90min’s preview of the game.

Real Madrid vs Pachuca H2H Record

This is the first competitive meeting between Real Madrid and Pachuca.

Current form (all competitions)

Madrid’s injury woes have eased in time for the Intercontinental Cup final. Crucially, Kylian Mbappe, who missed the 3-3 draw with Rayo Vallecano, is poised to return to Ancelotti’s XI having recovered from a thigh injury.

Mbappe lit up Bergamo on his previous outing for Los Blancos before his first-half withdrawal. The Frenchman will work in tandem with 2024 The Best Men’s Player victor Vinicius Junior.

Eduardo Camavinga was back in the Madrid squad at the weekend and is in contention to start in midfield. Aurelien Tchouameni should again partner Antonio Rudiger at centre-back.

David Alaba, Eder Militao, Ferland Mendy and Dani Carvajal are all out.

Real Madrid predicted lineup vs Pachuca (4-3-3): Courtois; Vazquez, Tchouameni, Rudiger, Garcia; Valverde, Camavinga, Bellingham; Rodrygo, Mbappe, Vinicius Jr.

A familiar face to Premier League audiences features for Pachuca on Tuesday evening with Salomon Rondon poised to lead the Mexican side’s line. Since joining the club in January, the former West Brom, Newcastle and Everton striker has scored 26 times to thrust Pachuca into their current position. He was the top scorer in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

The Mexicans have few injury concerns heading into the final and we should see similar XIs from the wins over Botafogo and Al Ahly, although Israel Luna is a doubt due to a knee issue.

Pachuca predicted lineup vs Real Madrid (4-5-1): Moreno; Rodriguez, Cabral, Micolta, Gonzalez; Montiel, Pedraza, Deossa, Bautista, Idrissi; Rondon.

Pachuca are surprise finalists and Madrid are huge favourites to win in Lusail. While there’s scope for the underdogs to seize on the momentum gained in Qatar against a Madrid team that could be caught cold, the gulf in quality should be too much for the Mexicans to overcome.

Pachuca are reliant on a 35-year-old Rondon for a source of attacking inspiration, and although the Spaniards have struggled defensively this term, especially as of late, it’s hard to envisage CONCACAF’s finest troubling Ancelotti’s side all that much on Wednesday.

Madrid have purred going forward with the returning Mbappe offering hints of his most destructive form. Expect the perennial European champions to win at a canter here.

Prediction: Real Madrid 4-1 Pachuca

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