They’ll also recall their valiant effort in the 2022 Club World Cup final, where they scored three times in a 5-3 loss to Madrid in Morocco.
Injured players such as Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, David Alaba, Eduardo Camavinga, and Ferland Mendy have all traveled to the U.S., but are unlikely to feature.
Antonio Rudiger remains doubtful after knee surgery in April, while Brazilian wonderkid Endrick will also miss out due to a hamstring injury.
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dean Huijsen are both expected to make their much-anticipated debuts after joining from Liverpool and Bournemouth, respectively.
Up front, all eyes will be on Kylian Mbappé, who is coming off an outstanding debut La Liga season in which he scored 31 goals in 34 matches—winning both the Pichichi and the European Golden Shoe.
On the other side, Inzaghi is expected to deploy his trademark 3-5-2 system, which might require some adjustments from his squad.
Bono will likely start in goal, protected by Kalidou Koulibaly, Hassan Tambakti, and Ali Al-Bulayhi. After missing the final six games of last season, Joao Cancelo hopes to return in time to operate as a wing-back.
Saudi international Salem Al-Dawsari will remain a key figure in Al-Hilal’s attack, with his pace and vision proven time and again in big matches.
Meanwhile, Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic is set to lead the front line after netting 28 goals in 36 appearances last season.
Predicted Starting XI – Real Madrid:
Courtois; Alexander-Arnold, Asencio, Huijsen, Garcia; Valverde, Tchouameni, Bellingham; Rodrygo, Vinicius, Mbappe
Predicted Starting XI – Al-Hilal:
Bono; Tambakti, Koulibaly, Al-Bulayhi; Cancelo, Kanno, Neves, Milinkovic-Savic, Salem Al-Dawsari; Malcolm, Mitrovic