Real Madrid face Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-final of the Club World Cup, with plenty of narrative to accompany the two sides. Kylian Mbappe will face his former side for the first time, while Xabi Alonso is hoping to make it into a final with Los Blancos, as he launches an assault on his first trophy too.
It has been a rough build-up to the game for Real Madrid, who had been preparing at their base in Miami before the game. Yet Los Blancos were grounded on the runway in Miami for several hours as they waited for a storm to pass, meaning their flight at 4pm local time was delayed, and did not land until 08:53pm. It meant that Alonso and co. did not attend their press duties ahead of the game.
In order to watch the heavyweight clash, you need to tune into DAZN. They will be streaming the entire tournament live and free. Watching the games are as simple as downloading the app. The game will kick off at 21:00 CEST.
After red cards in the quarter-finals, PSG are missing defenders Lucas Hernandez and Willian Pacho, while Alonso is without one of his starters too, in Dean Huijsen. Through injury, Real Madrid are missing Endrick Felipe, Ferland Mendy and David Alaba, while PSG are only lacking Nordi Mukiele.
The key question for Xabi Alonso is how to replace Huijsen and Diario AS back Raul Asencio to take his place. The line-up will be otherwise unchanged, with AS not daring to predict who will start between Gonzalo Garcia Torres and Kylian Mbappe. Marca do believe Mbappe will face his former club.
Two major questions face Xabi Alonso as #RealMadrid face #PSG in the #CWC semi-final tonight; who to replace Dean Huijsen with, and whether to bring back Kylian Mbappe?
Diario AS back Asencio to come in at the back, but dare not predict who will begin up front.
— Football España (@footballespana_) July 9, 2025
Luis Enrique is on course to use Lucas Beraldo in place of Pacho, with the other major change set to be Ousmane Dembele. The ex-Barcelona forward has not started a game yet this tournament, due to a prior muscle issue, but the feeling is that he could be back for the semi-final.
