Battling Real Madrid for a last 16 spot

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FC Red Bull Salzburg

·24 de junho de 2025

Battling Real Madrid for a last 16 spot

Preparing for the final group stage match

Our final group stage match on Thursday evening will see us battle for the last 16 of the FIFA Club World Cup when we take to the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia to face no less than Real Madrid. Fans at home in Austria will have to plan carefully for catching the action, as it kicks off at 21:00 local time and 03:00 on Friday morning in Austria.

We have a last 16 spot in our own hands, as a win would take us through. The clash at the same time between Al-Hilal and CF Pachuca could also decide our fortunes. We have taken a look through the possible scenarios for you HERE, including a glimpse at the official FIFA rules. Los Blancos are still fresh in our memories from the league stage of the UEFA Champions League last season. Our 1-5 defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu was a night we would rather forget. The favourites remain the same, but the situation is rather different. There are so many new signings in our starting XI, with just three players who began the Champions League clash against Real starting against Al-Hilal (Bidstrup, Nene, Gloukh).

Vídeos OneFootball

Real Madrid have a new coach in board in Xabi Alonso (previously at Bayer Leverkusen). He had a glittering spell as a player for the Madrid outfit. The 43-year-old will be hoping Kylian Mbappe returns from sickness in time to face us. There is so much to look forward to, even if this Thursday in Philadelphia is again expected to see temperatures above the 30-degree mark and heavy rain showers. Fans who want to support us in the stadium can find all the key info HERE.

Clash against Real Madrid live and free on DAZN

We have at least one more World Cup match ahead of us when we face Real Madrid on Thursday evening in Philadelphia (21:00 local time, 03:00 Friday morning Austrian time). Points would help our bid to make the last 16, but if Pachuca can do us a favour against Al-Hilal, we will be there regardless. DAZN will broadcast that game, like all others at the Club World Cup, live and for free. No subscription is needed, just an account.

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Anyone wanting a different way to follow the match so late at night can follow live text updates on our website as well as the match report shortly after full-time. From 10:00 CEST Austrian time the following morning, there are also free RBS TV highlights of our matches!

Injury news

Not available for the match are Alexander Schlager (wrist), Takumu Kawamura (knee) and Moussa Yeo (knee).
Valentin Sulzbacher (thigh) is a doubt.

Views

We have a really good spirit in the team now, and our substitutions have really helped us in our previous matches. We don't just have 11 quality players, we have a whole load of players who have the potential to start. If you consider that we have only been together for such a short time without a proper preparation period, it is even more positive. If you had said before the tournament that we would face Real for a spot in the last 16, we would have gladly taken that. We know who we are up against though. Real Madrid are one of the best teams in the world and have absolutely world-class players. It will be a tough match. Every match has to be played though, and we are looking forward to this one.

Thomas Letsch

Real are one of the best clubs in the world, and we are looking forward to the match. We have respect for them, but we will go out and do all we can to perform well. It is difficult to compare this to our last meeting, as there is so much that is new at the two clubs. We have a new team since then and we have developed further now, I think. Real have a new coach and are playing a different kind of football. It will start at 0-0, and we will see how well we can do against them.

Dorgeles Nene