Al-Hilal will play in the Club World Cup final after recording a historic 3-2 victory over Flamengo in the semi-final of the tournament on Tuesday.
Never before has a team from Saudi Arabia reached the final of the tournament, and the shock nature of the result can be compared to the national team’s victory over Argentina in the opening group match at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
Real Madrid are the European representative at the tournament in Morocco after winning the Champions League in 2022, but they have yet to play their semi-final fixture.
This is set to come on Wednesday when they face Al-Ahly of Egypt, but there is every expectation that Carlo Ancelotti‘s charges will progress into the showpiece event against the Saudi club.
Al-Hilal have been the champions of Asia on four occasions, but they have no real pedigree on the continental stage, certainly not compared to Los Blancos.
Real Madrid will be acutely aware of some of the threats they could possess, though, with a number of their players having excelled in Europe in the past.
Odion Ighalo used to play for Manchester United, whilst Moussa Marega was one of Porto’s most prolific goalscorers during the club’s down years after 2010.
Los Merengues will be sure their focus doesn’t slip from the Egyptian giants, especially since the Spanish club’s form hasn’t been sensational since the return from World Cup break.