Real Madrid have a chance to win their first title of the 2024-25 season tonight when they face Mexican club CF Pachuca in the Intercontinental Cup final. As European champions, the Merengues qualified directly for the final and did not have to play any further games in the competition.

There is no doubt that Los Blancos are the better team on paper, but since this game is a final, both teams will be ready to give it their all to get a win.

However, there are still three key battles to keep an eye on in this game:

Federico Valverde vs. Nelson Deossa

Valverde will go into this game in high spirits because even though he couldn’t help his team win in the last game, he still managed to score from long range.

As he has been for several years, he is once again an important part of the Real Madrid team, and his presence on the pitch will give Ancelotti’s midfield a lot of energy and leadership, as well as an outlet that can drive the ball from Real Madrid’s half into the opponents’ penalty area .

However, he will be up against another in-form midfielder as Nelson Deossa will look to compete with Valverde to maintain control of the midfield. The Colombian has been a regular starter for the Mexican team and has scored 2 goals and provided 2 assists in 16 Liga MX games so far this season.

His ability to deliver dangerous long balls for the forward line to exploit will be one of Pachuca’s greatest strengths and Valverde will be tasked with neutralizing that threat tonight.

Kylian Mbappe vs Sergio Barreto

Kylian Mbappe was unable to take part in the last game against Rayo Vallecano after being substituted in the first half of the Atalanta game due to a physical problem. However, he is in Real Madrid’s squad for this game and there are several reasons to hope that he will be particularly excited for this game.

For example, he has been slow to get going since joining Real Madrid and showed some promising signs in the game against Atalanta before being substituted. Therefore, he will look to continue his strong performance in this game and win his second trophy with the Merengues after winning the UEFA Super Cup.

Likewise, Kylian Mbappe still has some unfinished business at the Lusail Stadium, the venue for today’s match, as it was here that he lost the 2022 FIFA World Cup final against Argentina despite scoring a hat-trick in that match. Therefore, he will try to eliminate his past ghosts and get a small compensation for this loss.

However, this won’t be easy for him, as he faces a very competent defender in this game: Sergio Barreto. To make things even more interesting, the Pachuca defender is also Argentinian. He particularly excels in his positioning and ability to win duels on the ground, so his battle with Mbappé in this game will definitely be one to watch.

Salomon Rondon against Antonio Rüdiger

The Venezuelan veteran will definitely be the most important player for Pachuca in this match, as he is one of their players who has played against such good teams as Real Madrid at the peak of his career. His experience will be crucial for the Mexicans and his goalscoring ability remains as good as ever, having scored 26 goals since joining Pachuca last January.

But at 35, he will definitely no longer have the energy and strength of his youth, and Antonio Rüdiger will try to take full advantage of this fact. The German himself hasn’t been at his best in the last few games but will almost certainly be in contention for this final as he has proven amply that he is a player for the big games.