Both needing to right some recent friendly wrongs, Chelsea and Real Madrid clash at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte in Tuesday's glamour contest.
Enzo Maresca's troops conceded four to Manchester City over the weekend, while the European champions fell to a 2-1 loss to El Clasico rivals Barcelona.
Match preview
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If at first you do not succeed, try the same thing again one minute later and make the same mistake; that was the unsuccessful strategy employed by Maresca's Chelsea against Man City, where the Blues committed defensive error after defensive error.
Thunder and lightning delayed the start of Saturday's battle in Columbus, but it was Erling Haaland who was electric at the Ohio Stadium, scoring twice inside the first five minutes after Chelsea were caught out on multiple occasions when trying to play out from the back.
The Norwegian subsequently completed his hat-trick just one moment after Oscar Bobb got in on the act, and while Chelsea at least managed to finish with a flourish through Raheem Sterling and Noni Madueke's consolation goals, their sloppiness set off many alarm bells.
Only one of the Blues' four pre-season games has ended in victory - a 2-2 draw with Wrexham and 4-1 beatdown at the hands of Celtic preceded a 3-0 win over America - but Maresca cut an upbeat figure after the City defeat, insisting that the progress was evident and mistakes were inevitable.
However, Chelsea have just two more opportunities to dust off the cobwebs before the going gets tough; after Tuesday's battle with Los Blancos, the Blues host Serie A champions Inter Milan on August 11, seven days before they reunite with Man City in a blockbuster Premier League opener.
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Similarly to Chelsea's six-goal spectacular with Man City, Real Madrid's 'friendly' Clasico battle with Barcelona also saw one man steal the spotlight, albeit one with a much less extensive CV than two-time Premier League Golden Boot winner Haaland.
Indeed, 22-year-old Barcelona prospect Pau Víctor - who only signed a first-team contract a few weeks ago - bundled home two goals either side of the half-time whistle at MetLife Stadium, before Nico Paz cut the deficit in half with a bullet header.
Despite Paz's best efforts, it was Barcelona who earned the friendly bragging rights while consigning the reigning Spanish and La Liga champions to their second friendly loss on the bounce; Carlo Ancelotti's troops also fell to a 1-0 loss to AC Milan at the end of July.
As is the case with their upcoming foes, Real have just one pre-season success to their name this summer - putting three unanswered goals past Albacete - and the battle with Chelsea represents their last exhibition game of a short-lived friendly period before Atalanta BC await in the UEFA Super Cup.
Frequent Champions League foes in recent seasons, Real Madrid eased to a pair of 2-0 successes over Chelsea in the 2022-23 quarters and also eliminated the Blues from the last eight of the 2021-22 tournament, ending the West London club's reign as kings of Europe.
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Team News
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While Copa America pair Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo have now joined up with the team in the USA, Cole Palmer, Marc Cucurella are Conor Gallagher are still on their post-Euro 2024 holiday; there are rumours that the latter has even been banished from the squad amid his contract standoff.
Striker Nicolas Jackson and French defender Axel Disasi also remain out of contention due to injuries; the former's absence means that Christopher Nkunku and Marc Guiu will fight it out to lead the line in Charlotte, where Maresca will likely continue to shuffle the pack considerably.
Ben Chilwell, Wesley Fofana, Benoit Badiashile, Sterling and Madueke could all freshen up the starting XI, while Filip Jorgensen eyes his first start for the Blues in goal after Robert Sanchez saw out the full 90 in Columbus.
Real Madrid's ranks were also decimated by international call-ups this summer, and all of Jude Bellingham, Dani Carvajal, Ferland Mendy, Aurelien Tchouameni, Kylian Mbappe and Eduardo Camavinga were not involved in El Clasico after Euro 2024.
Federico Valverde is not yet back from his Copa America break either, but Brazilian wing wizards Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo were both on the bench against Barcelona; the former was introduced as a second-half substitute.
Blancos fans may now get a glimpse of an all-Brazilian frontline of Vinicius, Rodrygo and Endrick, where Antonio Rudiger and Thibaut Courtois should both start against their old club. Only David Alaba (ACL) is in the medical bay.
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Vazquez, Militao, Rudiger, Garcia; Guler, Martin, Ceballos; Rodrygo, Endrick, Vinicius Jr
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Jorgensen; James, Badiashile, Colwill, Chilwell; Dewsbury-Hall, Fernandez; Madueke, Nkunku, Sterling; Guiu
We say: Real Madrid 3-1 Chelsea
Chelsea had no answer to the Man City press on Saturday, and if Maresca persists with the playing out from the back approach, more howlers from the Blues are not beyond the realm of possibility.
Even though Real Madrid are still weakened by their international absentees, Ancelotti's attacking trident - potentially featuring three brilliant Brazilians - should come good to condemn their Premier League foes to another chastening loss.
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Ben Knapton
