Real Madrid can finish the year touching silverware for third straight year. Los Blancos face Al-Ain in the FIFA Club World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi at 16:30, UK Time. After beating Kashima Antlers (1-3) in the semi-finals, Solari’s men are ready to conquer another title in 2019.
Santiago Hernán Solari should repeat the same starting eleven that beat Kashima on Wednesday. So Marcos Llorente should be the stopper even if Casemiro played his first minutes in the semi-finals, but the Brazilian is not ready yet to play 90 minutes. In the attacking line, Benzema, Lucas Vázquez and Gareth Bale are set to start.
The Welshman will be the player to follow as he scored a hat-trick in the semi-finals. Even if his season has been disappointing so far, Bale is a specialist in the important games, as he showed in the Champions League final in Kiev. Besides, if the Welshman scores one goal, he would be the top scorer in the history of the competition, catching Cristiano Ronaldo.
Marco Asensio is the only absence for muscular problems. The former Mallorca player entered in the pitch in the second half against Kashima but he had to be substituted after 10 minutes. For this reason, Solari doesn’t have many solutions in the attacking line, with Isco and Vinicius Junior as the only offensive players on the bench.
Los Blancos could wrap up another successful year with another title. Last two years they were able to lift this trophy beating Gremio Portoalegre with a goal scored by Cristiano Ronaldo in 2017 and Kashima Antlers in 2016. It will be also very important for Santiago Hernán Solari’s future as he’s been unable to improve the team so far even if the results haven’t been that bad.
After this game, Real Madrid players will be able to enjoy their holidays for Christmas. However, they will be back to work quite soon as they will face Villarreal on the 3rd of January, a game postpone for this final.
