On Wednesday, Real Madrid lock horns with Mexican club CF Pachuca in Lusail, Qatar, with the winner set to be crowned the inaugural winners of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup.
Real Madrid enter the tournament in the finals directly by virtue of their status as the winners of last season’s UEFA Champions League winners and will be aiming to bag the second trophy of the season, after having won the UEFA Super Cup.
Kylian Mbappe could return against Pachuca
Heading into Wednesday night’s encounter, Real Madrid are sweating over the fitness of superstar forward Kylian Mbappe, who suffered a thigh injury last week against Atalanta.
The French attacker missed the weekend La Liga game against Rayo Vallecano as a result, although there is hope that he could be ready to feature in the Intercontinental Cup Final.
Mbappe could be ready to face CF Pachuca. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
Indeed, according to Fabrizio Romano, Mbappe is back training on the pitch today, hoping to make himself available for Wednesday’s encounter against Pachuca in Qatar.
The marquee summer signing will be assessed by the coaching staff closer to the game, but as things stand, it is not ruled out that he will be available to play some part in the Intercontinental Cup Final later this week.
Mbappe’s injury came at a point when he was starting to build some goalscoring rhythm, having netted in back-to-back games against Girona and Atalanta.
The 25-year-old has racked up 12 goals and two assists so far from 22 matches in his debut season at Real Madrid.
Having played a hand in the team’s UEFA Super Cup win at the start of the season, he will be motivated to help the Merengues lift their second trophy of the campaign come Wednesday.