First trophy of the season?

Real Madrid missed the chance to overtake Barcelona at the top of La Liga when they were held by Rayo Vallecano, leaving them 1 point behind (37 vs 38) and level on 17 games. Barcelona will play Leganes at 3am on December 16th, if they win, coach Hansi Flick's team will increase the gap.

Real Madrid is likely to win the first championship trophy of the season on December 19.

Real Madrid coach Ancelotti was still pleased. He said: "We are on the right track and I am satisfied. We played well tonight. The draw against Rayo Vallecano was not as bad as the draw against Las Palmas or Mallorca (both 1-1 draws). This match was better."

In the away match against Rayo Vallecano, Real Madrid played without star Kylian Mbappe. Meanwhile, striker Vinicius was on the bench and only entered the field from the 60th minute. The goalscorers for Real Madrid were Valverde, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo. Rayo Vallecano opened the score in the 4th minute, creating a spectacular chase with the scorers being Lopez, Mumin and Palazon.

After the draw with Rayo Vallecano, Real Madrid will immediately fly to Qatar to prepare for the Intercontinental Cup final against Mexican opponents Pachuca, who beat Al Ahly (Egypt) in the Challenger Cup with a score of 6-5 after a penalty shootout (0-0 draw in regular time).

This is the first time in history that a Mexican team has met Real Madrid in an official tournament. In the history of confrontation, Pachuca Club has never met Real Madrid in an official or unofficial tournament.

Pachuca Club wins Challenger Cup to meet Real Madrid

Meanwhile, in the history of meeting teams in Mexico, Real Madrid has had 18 confrontations, notably in 4 meetings from 2001 to 2011, the team at Bernabeu stadium only lost 1 match (against Pumas 0-1). The rest was a 3-1 win over Cruz Azul after a penalty shootout (1-1 draw in regular time), a 3-2 win over Club America and a 3-0 win over Guadalajara.

Therefore, against a not-so-strong Pachuca, Real Madrid will likely arrive at Lusail Stadium in Qatar at 0:00 on December 19 and complete this final match satisfactorily to leave with the first championship trophy of the season.

According to coach Ancelotti, in this match, striker Mbappe will recover from his injury in time and return to the field where he played brilliantly in the 2022 World Cup final, but in the end, the French team lost to Messi's Argentina after a penalty shootout with a score of 2-4 (a 3-3 draw in regular time).

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/real-madrid-gap-doi-thu-dac-biet-tai-intercontinental-cup-doat-cup-dau-tien-cua-mua-giai-185241215085710407.htm