Can Real Madrid bounce back against Arsenal tonight?
By Ben Sundock
After a woeful 3-1 defeat against Bayern Munich on Saturday, Real Madrid will face Arsenal in Washington D.C. tonight. With five preseason matches remaining, we should see the players start to get more comfortable little by little. Here is a quick preview ahead of tonight’s Intercontinental Champions Cup clash.
More than anything, it is important for the players to get some playing time and shake off the summer rust. These preseason results certainly don’t define how good a team will be once the competitive fixtures get underway, however, the way Real Madrid performed against Bayern was a bit worrying.
As Zinedine Zidane tries to keep his now 28 players focused on what they can control on the pitch, we should see some more experimenting with personnel.
Zizou elected to start a strong XI on Saturday night, but after just two days off and a day of traveling on Sunday, Los Blancos could again look to change up the forward line or defenders drastically.
With few options in the midfield – and even fewer now that Dani Ceballos is set to join the Gunners on a year long loan – expect to see Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, and Isco back out to start the match with Takefusa Kubo and a couple of the Castilla players getting some time in the second half.
The most important area to watch in this match should be the forward line which failed to show up in the first half. Karim Benzema struggled to get shots on target while Marco Asensio made little impact on offense or defense.
Eden Hazard was very impressive in his debut for Real Madrid, but it would be nice to see him cut in on his right foot and try to take more shots this time around.
Arsenal has been impressive in its first two preseason tilts in the United States as they defeated Bayern 2-1 and Fiorentina 3-0 thanks to three goals from impressive youngster Eddie Nketiah.
The Gunners are feeling confident and near full fitness coming into this match which will make it even more difficult for Los Blancos to get a result.
Next. Real Madrid set to loan Dani Ceballos to Arsenal. dark
The match will kick off at 7 p.m. local time and 1 a.m. in Spain. Real Madrid will travel to the northeast just after the match as they will face Atletico Madrid in the first ever Madrid Derby on United States soil this Friday.