The situation
New episode between Real Madrid and Club América in the United States. During the early hours of July 26 to 27 (04:30 a.m., Spanish time), the fifth duel between these two world football legends will be played. Baggage of four wins to zero for the Madrid club against Las Águilas. The Whites will play their second preseason game after the 0-1 loss against Barça. Ancelotti, who will line up the least usual, wants all his players with rhythm. They are the two most successful clubs in their respective Leagues (with 35 and 13 titles, respectively) , protagonists of a new pre-season clash on American soil. To recall the first ones , one would have to look back: until 1927. At that time, Mexican soccer was not even professional . Madrid, who made a three-month tour of most of America (visiting Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Cuba, Mexico and the United States), participated in two friendly matches against them. In the first , the current champion of the Champions League won 4-2 at Parque España (Mexico City), where there was an entry of more than 10,000 spectators. In the second , again, the merengue team won 5-3 . Thus ended the first tour in Madrid history. The third crash occurred 83 years later (August 4, 2010) in San Francisco, California. Candlestick Park , venue for The Beatles’ last concert in 1966, hosted a new victory for Madrid (3-2) against the Mexicans. Goals from Cristiano (he won his third Ballon d’Or that same year), Higuaín and Canales, a team led by José Mourinho at the time, offset goals from Enrique Esqueda and Vicente Sánchez, from América; serving to add a triumph in a new tour of North America. The only official match between the two was at the 2016 Club World Cup in Japan.
The details
Madrid awaited the winner in the semifinals between the Azulcremas and the Jeonbuk Hyundai, where the Mexican club won 1-2 (Osaka). Four days later, in Yokohama, on December 15, 2016, the Madrid entity qualified for the final of the continental tournament with a 0-2 win against América (goals by Benzema and Cristiano) . Zinedine Zidane’s team won the Club World Cup three days later against Kashima Antlers (victory 2-4 after extra time, with goals from Benzema and a hat-trick from Cristiano Ronaldo). On the other hand, the Mexican team succumbed to Nacional on penalties (3-4), in the fight for third and fourth place.