The Real Madrid vs Inter Milan friendly match will take place this Saturday, July 26, 2014 (3:00 PM Pacific) at the California Memorial Stadium. Summer usually becomes boring without any football on TV, but there’s always that time in July when big teams tour big markets like the U.S. and offer us with amusing friendlies. This year’s International Champions Cup will feature Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United, AC Milan, AS Roma, Inter Milan, Olympiakos and of course, Real Madrid. This is as good as it’s going to get for football fans that can’t wait for the kick-off match of the EPL on August 16th.
Real Madrid
Real Madrid are the current tournament champions after beating former coach José Mourinho’s Chelsea last year. This will mark Real’s first friendly in a season that will have them play for six titles and at the very least 48 matches. Madrid will need a squad with enough depth to cover injuries and keep top players fresh. Carlo Ancelotti seemed to settle for the 4-3-3 formation last season, but there have been rumors that he may change it up a bit to make room for new signings James Rodríguez and Toni Kroos.
While this match won’t necessarily predict the future for Los Blancos or Inter, it’s still a match that needs to be given importance. Ancelotti’s still missing key players like Di María, Marcelo, Cristiano, Benzema and even the two new players. World Cup participants like Xabi Alonso, Pepe, Modrić, Coentrão and Casillas barely joined the squad this week, which means they probably won’t be asked to play this match. This will be great for the nine youth academy players that were brought to the tour. In fact, it’s very likely that some of them will make it into the starting lineup and some will come in as subs. Gareth Bale will definitely be Madrid’s biggest threat in attack, as he needs to be the leader because of Ronaldo’s absence.
Real can use this tour to test out possible formations, possible additions to the first team from the youth academy and start getting some pitch time against big rivals. With the lack of regular starters in attack, Ancelotti will most likely use the 4-3-3 and put in: D. López; Carvajal, Nacho, D. Llorente, Arbeloa; M. Llorente, Illarra, Isco; Bale, de Tomás and Lucas.
Inter Milan
Last season wasn’t a memorable one for Inter Milan, since they didn’t even participate in a continental competition, got kicked out of the Coppa Italia very early and finished 5th in the Serie A. This gave them the chance to access the play-off round for the Europa League. While the club hasn’t made any major movements in the transfer market, the club did add experienced defender Nemanja Vidić, French midfielder Yann M’Vila and recovered Diego Laxalt. Rodrigo Palacio, the club’s top goal-scorer last season, won’t be able to play this match as he’s still enjoying time off after reaching the World Cup final. Inter have already played two friendlies and they won both of them. Icardi will be Inter’s hope to pose a threat to Real Madrid and Kovačić will be the creative mind. All in all, this is a very watchable match.
Real Madrid vs Inter Milan Prediction
Inter Milan isn’t as powerful as that historic team that won the Champions League in 2010, but they can still surprise Madrid, as they have already played two friendlies. However, with Real’s hard work during preseason and the motivated state of mind from the players, it’s more than likely that they will be able to beat Inter. Bale already had a very good last season without even participating in preseason, so this year it looks like he will be even better. This feels like a match that will have a fair amount of goals.
Real Madrid 3 – 1 Inter Milan
Real Madrid vs Inter Milan TV Schedule
The game will be televised on ESPN Deportes and Fox Sports 2 USA on Saturday at 3:00 PM Pacific.
