Real Madrid are sweating over the fitness of Karim Benzema, Eder Militao and Thibaut Courtois ahead of Saturday's Club World Cup final against Al-Hilal at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Morocco.

Courtois sustained a muscle injury in the warm-up prior to Real's La Liga defeat against Mallorca last weekend, while Benzema and Militao were forced off with respective hamstring and groin problems in the previous game with Valencia.

All three players missed the 4-1 semi-final victory over Al Ahly on Wednesday, but manager Carlo Ancelotti has suggested that the Blancos trio could recover in time to feature on Saturday.

Three players who will not be involved in the final are Ferland Mendy (hamstring), Eden Hazard (muscle) and Lucas Vazquez (ankle) as they continue their rehabilitation from injury.

The potential inclusion of Courtois would see Andriy Lunin drop to the substitutes' bench, while a possible start for centre-back Militao could see makeshift left-back Eduardo Camavinga take a place on the bench, with David Alaba shifting to the left side of the back four and either Nacho Fernandez or Dani Carvajal starting at right-back.

Luka Modric – who missed a second-half penalty against Al Ahly – is expected to retain his place in centre-midfield alongside Aurelien Tchouameni and Toni Kroos.

In attack, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Federico Valverde all scored against Al Ahly, but one of the latter two will likely drop out of the side if 2022 Ballon d'Or winner Benzema is deemed fit to start.

Real Madrid possible starting lineup: Lunin; Carvajal, Nacho, Rudiger, Alaba; Kroos, Tchouameni, Modric; Valverde, Rodrygo, Vinicius Jr

Written by
Oliver Thomas