The day has finally arrived. Real Madrid’s long awaited first game of the new season is here and barely has a pre-season ever been that exciting as it is this year. Tonight at 02:00 am CEST (19:00 pm local time) Real Madrid will face Bayern Munich at the NRG Stadium in Houston for their opening game in this years International Champions Cup.
The opponent
Tonight’s opponent is no stranger to Real Madrid. Over the last two decades we’ve seen Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich so many times in the Champions League that it became a real rivalry. Bayern is a little bit ahead in their pre-season as they have already played their first game. Niko Kovač’ side took on Arsenal three days ago in the International Champions Cup which ended with the Bavarians losing 2-1.
The debutants
Five eagerly awaited debuts are about to come tonight and the one that stands out is Eden Hazard. The Belgian will have all eyes on him in his first game for “Los Blancos” and is expected to be in the starting line-up. Ferland Mendy, Luka Jović and the two 18-years-old Rodrygo Goes and Takefusa Kubo are the other four new players who will wear the Real Madrid shirt for the first time and who’ll want to impress the coach and the fans tonight.
Possible line-up
This is basically impossible to predict, but Zidane is expected to line-up a strong team for the first game of the new season. Even though a mix of the usual first team and some youngsters is also a possibility.
This is how “Zizou” could line-up tonight: Thibaut Courtois – Dani Carvajal, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo/Ferland Mendy – Luka Modric, Toni Kroos – Vinicius Junior, Eden Hazard, Lucas Vazquez/Marco Asensio – Karim Benzema.
But as mentioned already, it’s very hard to predict, so expect the actual line-up to be different. If Zidane taught us one thing in the past then it is that you absolutely can’t predict his line-ups.
Suspensions/Injuries
As it’s a friendly game, there are obviously no suspensions, but unfortunately Real Madrid will miss one player due to injury. Brahim Díaz is not available for the game against Bayern and according to reports, he could miss the entire pre-season.
How can I watch the game?
Here is a great website (http://bit.ly/RMABAYLinks) where you can see all the countries and TV channels that broadcast the game. If your country isn’t on the list or you don’t have access to the broadcasting TV channels, then you can also watch it on realmadrid.com via RMTV.
