Real Madrid Announce Club World Cup Squad Without Six

Real Madrid have announced their 22-man squad for the FIFA Club World Cup, where they will face Egyptian giants Al Ahly in the semi-final, but will miss six of their stars.

The UEFA Champions League winners will face CAF Champions League runners-up Al Ahly in the semi-final on Thursday.

While Real will play their first game at this year’s tournament (UCL and Copa Libertadores winners only enter the tournament at semi-final stage), Al Ahly already played two games.

They first beat Auckland City 3-0 in the opening round, where Tau came off the bench and scored the third goal, before knocking out Seattle Sounders by 1-0.

Al Ahly have qualified for the semi-final for a third successive time and will hope to finally reach their first ever Club World Cup final, while overall they’ve participated in eight editions of the tournament.

Real, meanwhile, have taken part four times and lifted the trophy each time they contested it.

However, the LaLiga champions enter the game in stuttering form after dropping five points in their last three league matches.

Carlo Ancelotti will miss six of his players, with Karim Benzema, Thibaut Courtois and Eder Militao all not part of the traveling squad due to their recent knocks.

In addition, the injured Eden Hazard, Lucas Vazquez and Ferland Mendy also didn’t travel to Morocco, leading to Ancelotti calling five players from Real’s second team into his traveling squad.

While Al Ahly progressed to the semi-final stage, CAF Champions League winners and hosts, Wydad Athletic Club were eliminated by Al Hilal, losing on penalties to the Asian representatives.

Al Ahly were invited to take part as second African club because Wydad, who beat them in last year’s CAFCL final, are hosting the tournament.

The match between Al Ahly and Real Madrid kicks off 21:00 (SA time) on Thursday in Rabat.