Mexican giants Pachuca braced for ´transcendent´ Real Madrid matchup

Pachuca coach Guillermo Almada is braced for one of the biggest matches in the history of the Mexican club, who will face Real Madrid in the FIFA Intercontinental Cup on Tuesday.

CONCACAF Champions Cup holders Pachuca beat Egyptian giants Al Ahly 6-5 on penalties in Saturday’s play-off in Qatar, following 120 goalless minutes.

They will now take on Madrid in the showpiece game of the inaugural tournament – which was introduced to replace the Club World Cup ahead of that competition, adopting a 32-team format at the end of the club season.

Pachuca have already had to come through two rounds of the tournament, also eliminating Copa Libertadores holders Botafogo with a 3-0 victory on Wednesday.

While Almada cannot wait to test his skills against Carlo Ancelotti and 15-time European champions Madrid, he knows recovery is now the name of the game for his side.

“Against Real Madrid it will be a very complicated match because of the football marathon we had today,” he said after Saturday’s game.

“We are going to seek to recover, so we can face a match that will be transcendent for the club.”

Reflecting on Saturday’s game, in which Pachuca managed just 11 shots and 0.67 expected goals (xG) to Al Ahly’s 15 shots and 1.37 xG, Almada added: “We were a little exhausted because of the intensity we required in the game against Botafogo.

“Fortunately, we achieved this win with a marathon penalty shoot-out, but in the end what matters is the character we showed. That is very important for us.

“We maintained defensive security and that is to be recognised, but we didn’t string together passes or generate scoring options.”