Match Preview

The final match of the 2018 International Champions Cup will come to an end for Real Madrid Tuesday night when they take on Roma at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Real Madrid are coming off a 3-1 victory over Juventus, a match where Marco Asensio scored twice as a substitute.

Roma are coming off a 4-2 win over Barcelona, Roma again made a comeback against the defending Liga champions.

This will be the last bit of action for Real before the UEFA Super Cup next Wednesday, where they will take on Europa League winners Atletico Madrid. This will be a good warmup and assessment before going on to play for the first attainable trophy for Real of the 2018/19 season.

Both clubs will be looking to finish strong ahead of the new seasons in both La Liga and Serie A.

Injuries/Suspensions

No injuries or suspensions for either club.

Potential XIs

Real Madrid

Navas; Carvajal, Vallejo, Nacho, Theo; Llorente, Kroos; Bale, Ceballos, Isco, Asensio

With the Super Cup next week, Lopetegui may elect to feature some of the available starters again in preparation. Jesus Vallejo may see a start for the first time this preseason. Llorente may also get another start in favor of Valverde.

Giving Benzema another start may be what Lopetegui ends up choosing to do come match time, but it is also an opportunity to try Asensio in the false nine role as a starter. It would be a good look at Asensio playing in this position for a full 45. Regardless of what Lopetegui chooses, both Asensio and Benzema will see minutes in Tuesday’s match.

The big question is what will happen with Mateo Kovacic. With rumors that he didn’t return to training after speaking with Real officials, it’s likely he won’t feature in this match and perhaps not even the Super Cup. Nobody really knows what is going on and we’ll have to watch as another dramatic saga plays out the rest of this week.

Roma

Olsen; Florenzi, Manolas, Marcano, Santon; Pellegrini, Strootman, De Rossi; Kluivert, Il Faraone, Dzeko

Prediction

Real Madrid-Roma 3-2

With the preseason coming to a close and a fairly big match coming next week for Real, this will be an important match to get prepared in the last full match they will partake in. This is a last good chance for the starters that are with the team on this tour get one last warm-up in before the new season starts.

As with the previous two ICC matches against Manchester United and Juventus, this match against Roma means nothing. But, Real will want to win this match solely to go in to next week’s match against Atletico with some confidence. It will also boost their confidence that they will finally have their full team together next week, unfortunately though with the uncertainty of the Modric and Kovacic situations currently.