Real Madrid stumbled in its Club World Cup debut, drawing 1-1 against Al-Hilal. After the first matchday, it can't afford to drop more points in the fight for this important championship, and it's clear that it must beat Pachuca. With just a few hours left before kickoff in the Real Madrid-Pachuca match, Maldini has shared his own prediction on YouTube.
SEATTLE vs ATLETI, PACHUCA vs REAL MADRID, BAYERN vs BOCA... PREVIA Y PRONÓSTICOS J2 MUNDIAL
Maldini sees Real Madrid as the favorite
Maldini has been clear about it, making it clear that Real Madrid is practically obliged to win. The journalist hasn't been too optimistic about Pachuca, even stating that "it's below European soccer."
For this reason and more, Julio Maldonado has been firm, giving the white team a 70% chance of taking the victory. In his opinion, Pachuca only has a 10% chance of winning, while he gives a 20% chance to a draw, which wouldn't benefit either side.
In this regard, the Movistar journalist has warned of possible changes in Xabi Alonso's starting eleven. He expects to see Arda Güler start from the beginning of the Real Madrid-Pachuca match, having praised everything he contributed in the second half of the Club World Cup debut.
Madrid has a lot to fix
Xabi Alonso spoke clearly after his debut and drew some conclusions: "I didn't like the first half too much, it'll help us see what to improve. In the second half we had more balance, we were better with the ball, we pushed them back more, but we missed the goal. I'll stick with that and we'll build on it."
In this regard, he continued: "I didn't like the first half too much, we didn't play very well, we didn't have good ball circulation, we were too wide and when we lost the ball we didn't know how to adjust. We'll have to look at it to react. In the second half there was a reaction, we had much better balance with the ball. We got close to the box and were able to press them a bit more. Maybe we just needed to be a little more accurate in those final yards."
Speaking about the Real Madrid-Pachuca match, he concluded: "Almost all the coaches in this group are new, it's the case for Pachuca, just like for me. Lozano wasn't in the previous match against Madrid, they have quality, it's going to be demanding as well."