Real Madrid v Al Hilal

Xabi Alonso takes charge of his first game as the Real Madrid manager against Al Hilal with Los Blancos early favourites to lift the trophy in a month's time. Real Madrid have already made moves in the transfer market with Dean Huijsen and Trent Alexander-Arnold coming through the door in time to compete in this competition. 

They face an Al Hilal side that also have a new manager at the helm with Simone Inzaghi taking over after his successful spell at Inter, one that ended bitterly with a 5-0 defeat in the Champions League final to PSG. Al Hilal have plenty of players that have played in Europe before with the standouts being Joao Cancelo, Kalidou Koulibaly, Ruben Neves and Alexander Mitrovic.

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⭐ Real Madrid v Al Hilal Best Bets

Jude Bellingham did not escape the criticism which was levelled at Real Madrid for their underwhelming campaign last season which saw Los Blancos crash out of the Champions League in the quarter finals to Arsenal as well as missing out on the LaLiga title and the Copa Del Rey with Barcelona pipping them to both trophies. The underachievement has led to a change in manager with Xabi Alonso taking on the reins from Carlo Ancelloti who has gone on to link up with Brazil as their head coach.

Bellingham enjoyed a decent season for Real Madrid despite the biggest club in the world missing out on major honours. He registered 27 goal contributions across his 52 appearances for Real Madrid during the 24/25 season, a slight decrease from the 36 goal contributions he registered across 42 appearances during the 23/24 campaign. Xabi Alonso will be hoping to unlock the version of Bellingham that produced such promising numbers in his debut season at the club. 

Xabi Alonso could look to play Bellingham further forward, just as he did during the 23/24 season which produced such promising results. The key will be attempting to balance Bellingham’s role alongside the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr which proved a challenge at times during the 24/25 season for Carlo Ancelloti who did drop Bellingham into a slightly deeper role during the 24/25 season.

👕 Real Madrid v Al Hilal Predicted XI

🔍 Real Madrid v Al Hilal Players to Watch

🔵 Alexander Mitrovic

Mitrovic has continued to be a goal threat since making the move to the Saudi Pro League in 2023. He netted 40 goals across his 43 appearances during the 23/24 season while averaging 4.63 shots per 90 and followed this up with 28 goals across his 36 appearances in the Saudi Pro League during the 24/25 campaign while averaging 4.44 shots per 90.

Such a high shot volume over two consecutive seasons is rare, even for a striker playing in the Saudi Pro League, and this would suggest that Mitrovic can cause Real Madrid problems here - especially when considering that Madrid could have two debutants in their backline given the injuries to Rudiger, Carvajal, Alaba and Militao. 

⚪ Trent Alexander-Arnold

Trent Alexander-Arnold could be set for his best ever return when it comes to assists in the upcoming 25/26 season when looking at the players he has available to pick out ahead of him. The likes of Mbappe, Vinicius Jr and Bellingham in particular will benefit from the pinpoint delivery of Alexander-Arnold who should also take ownership of free kicks and corners now that he is wearing the jersey of Los Blancos.

Trent registered seven assists for Liverpool last season but has managed 10+ assists in four of his last seven seasons for Liverpool which is an unbelievable return for a fullback - Alexander-Arnold registered 86 assists across his 354 appearances for Liverpool across his time with the Reds.  He created 53 chances during the 24/25 season (2.01 per 90) which is a record that will encourage the forward players of Real Madrid. 

📂 Real Madrid v Al Hilal Cheat Sheet

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💻 Real Madrid v Al Hilal Form and Tactics

It is yet to be seen how Xabi Alonso will look to line up this Real Madrid side, the early indications are that the former Bayer Leverkusen manager will look to make Los Blancos a bit more secure off the ball and implement a more noticeable attacking structure, similar to what Luis Enrique has managed to build at PSG. The challenge for Alonso will be getting the stars in this Madrid side to buy into his hardworking approach which has proven difficult in previous iterations of Galactico assembled sides. 

The defensive side of the game may be something that takes a little longer to implement. Real Madrid are still missing Rudiger, Carvajal, Alaba and Militao from their backline and while the signings of Dean Huijsen and Trent Alexander-Arnold are welcome, it is likely that Real Madrid will take some time to become more secure at the back given the pressure that is put on new signings to adapt as quickly as possible to their new surroundings. They’ll also need to improve their scoring power if they are to compete with Barcelona next season, Hansi Flick’s side netted 24 more goals than Real Madrid during the 24/25 LaLiga season. 

Al Hilal have been competing towards the top of the Saudi Pro League for the last two seasons. They won the league in the 23/24 campaign and finished runners up to Al Ittihad in the most recent edition of the Saudi Pro League. They have a few players that will be familiar to watchers of the Premier League, most notably in Alexander Mitrovic who has scored 68 goals across his 79 appearances for Al Hilal since making the move from Fulham in 2023. 

Al Hilal are also in a moment of transition, Simone Inzaghi has taken the role of head coach following his successful time as manager of Inter Milan which didn’t quite produce the fairytale ending that he was looking for as his side got beat 5-0 in the Champions League final in his final game in charge of the Nerazzuri. Al Hilal will feel that they can qualify from this group behind Real Madrid with the other sides in the group being Pachuca and Salzburg.

🏁 Real Madrid v Al Hilal Ref Watch

• Referee: Facundo Tello

• Stats are on per 90 basis and are taken from 2024/2025 games (9 total)

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* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.