Real Madrid v Juventus: Club World Cup preview

Two European heavyweights meet at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens on Wednesday morning when Real Madrid face Juventus for a place in the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup.

Real eased into the last-16 in the United States without looking at their best, topping Group H with two wins and a draw, while Juve finished as runners-up to Manchester City in Group G.

Igor Tudor's side opened up with convincing wins over Al Ain (5-0) and Wydad (4-1), but a 5-2 crushing by the Citizens in their final pool game leaves Juve with plenty to ponder ahead of this showdown with the Spanish giants.

Real Madrid v Juventus betting preview

Mbappe may be back to boost Real

Fifteen-time European champions Real played the whole of the group stage without star striker Kylian Mbappe due to a serious bout of gastroenteritis, but the French striker has trained fully for several days and could be set to return.

Head coach Xabi Alonso believes that Mbappe and Vinicius Jr. can form an effective partnership, telling reporters: "Things can work, there's individual quality, but we need the team to function."

Mbappe is 1.53 to return with a goal at anytime against Juve, while Brazilian ace Vinicius Jr. is 1.72 is the same market.

Vinicius Jr. scored one and set up another in the 3-0 win over FC Salzburg in the final group game, while both Federico Valverde and Gonzalo Garcia notched twice during the pool stage.

That means goals are not a problem for Los Blancos, but former Bayer Leverkusen boss Alonso is keen to instil an approach of defending from the front, adding: "We need and want everyone to defend - the 11 players on the pitch have to be involved defensively."

Alonso fielded a three-man defensive set-up against Salzburg, with Aurelien Tchouameni lining up alongside Dean Huijsen and Antonio Rudiger, but he has the option of recalling Raul Asencio after he served a one-match suspension.

Perhaps surprisingly these two teams have not met since the 2017/18 season, when Real edged a thrilling UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie 4-3 on aggregate.

Tudor has plenty to ponder

Juve head coach Tudor has at least one major decision to make for this clash, with Nicolo Savona ruled out by an ankle injury, meaning that either Daniele Rugani or Federico Gatti will start in defence.

Andrea Cambiaso and Khephren Thuram are expected to return in midfield, while in attack Randal Kolo Muani and Kenan Yildiz are certain to be back in the starting line-up after dropping out against Man City.

The final decision to be made will be decided by whether Francisco Conceicao has recovered from a knock and, if he has not, then Teun Koopmeiners will retain his place despite struggling for form.

And there is seemingly not too much wrong in the Juve camp despite the loss to the Citizens, with them having finished the Serie A season with just one loss in nine games, as they secured fourth place and a spot in the UEFA Champions League next season.

Croat Tudor will hope that the returns of Kolo Muani and Yildiz gives his side a much more potent attacking threat, thus easing the pressure on a defence that is sure to be stretched by the top-class attacking options at Real's disposal.

Kolo Muani scored twice in the win over Al Ain, while Turkish starlet Yildiz is 3.10 to score at anytime against Real, having netted three times in two tournament starts to date.

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Real Madrid v Juventus betting odds

Real Madrid - 1.66
Draw - 3.80
Juventus - 5.50

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.