Club World Cup Round of 16 Preview: Real Madrid vs. Juventus | OneFootball

Real Madrid vs. Juventus

Tuesday July 1 @ 3:00pm ET

Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL

Say hello to a Champions League fixture in the southern tip of Florida!

Recent History

These two have a long history playing each other, mainly in the aforementioned Champions League. In the last ten matchups, Madrid has won five, Juventus three, and two draws. Mind you, their last two fixtures were friendlies and split evenly, and the other eight games contested between 2013 and 2018, so make of this what you will.

How They Qualified for the Round of 16

Real Madrid finished top of Group H with seven points. After a 1 – 1 draw with Al Hilal, they heeded the wake up call and won their next two. Pachuca tried their best to break Real down (25 shots, 11 on frame) but could only manage one past Thibaut Courtois. Madrid thoroughly dominated Red Bull Salzburg 3 – 0 in their final matchup.

Madrid has been ruthlessly efficient in scoring, converting 7 of their 14 on frame efforts, but only five players have been involved offensively: Gonzalo Garcia, Federico Valverde, Vini, Jr., Jude Bellingham and Arda Güler. Just as critical? Thibaut Courtois, who’s averaging 4.7 saves per game. The flip side on that stat is the Real are conceding WAY too many shots.

Juventus finished second in Group G with six points. Unfortunately for them, their final game was an embarrassing 5 – 2 beatdown at the hands of Manchester City where they only had a paltry 23.7% possession. The good news is their previous two games were dominant performances against Wydad AC (4 – 1 win) and Al Ain (5 – 0 win). Not the stiffest competition, sure, but they got the job done effectively.

On the attack Juve will rely on Francisco Conceição (2g) and Kenan Yıldız (3g/1a). These two young lads (22 and 20 respectfully) have announced their presence on the world’s stage with trumpet fanfares. But let’s not forget Dušan Vlahović and Randal Kolo Muani, both of whom also have a brace.

Expected Conditions

It could be worse. Today’s forecast calls for clouds, high humidity (duh) and moderate temperatures in the mid-80s (27-28C). There might be an errant thunderstorm that throws a spanner in the works, and that type of game delay could play a factor in the outcome.

The Hooligan Take

We’re going with Juventus today. I have a strong belief that Yıldız will have a banger game, and despite the loss to Manchester City they are a strong side. I also think the American contingent in their squad (midfielders Weston McKennie and Timothy Weah) will show up on home soil. This will be a 2 – 1 Juve win without any extra time.