Preview: Ferencvaros vs Real Madrid - prediction, team news, lineups

La Liga giants Real Madrid continue their pre-season preparations with a friendly against Hungarian side Ferencvaros at the Groupama Stadium on Saturday.

Both sides finished as runners-up last season and will be aiming to return to the top of their respective domestic leagues in 2026-27.

Match preview

After consecutive trophyless seasons without La Liga or Champions League glory, Real Madrid have turned to Jose Mourinho for the second time, an appointment which was met with a mixed reaction within the club’s fanbase.

Following a 4-1 demolition of Leganes to open pre-season, Madrid suffered a first setback under their new manager, letting a two-goal lead slip in a 2-2 draw with Fiorentina last Saturday.

Visibly unhappy at the final whistle, Mourinho headed straight down the tunnel without exchanging pleasantries with the Fiorentina staff, a reaction that likely set a stern tone in the Madrid dressing room.

Los Blancos will be eager to deliver an immediate response as they face Ferencvaros for the first time since the 1995 Champions League group stage.

Madrid dominated those previous encounters, winning the first leg 6-1 before a 1-1 draw in the return meeting. The Spanish giants will once again be expected to come out on top.

Saturday’s visitors are unbeaten in five straight matches dating back to last season, often starting strongly by opening the scoring and leading at half time in each of those games.

This weekend’s trip to Budapest is Madrid’s penultimate warm-up outing away from Spain, with a clash against Schalke 04 in Germany still to come as their final pre-season fixture.

© Imago / Buzzi

While Madrid are still 16 days away from their first game of 2026-27, Ferencvaros have already played seven competitive matches across domestic and European competitions.

Balazs Borbely's side have lost just once in that time (W4, D2), with their recent 1-0 win over Gornik putting them 90 minutes away from the Europa League play-offs ahead of next week's return leg in Poland.

The Greens were originally scheduled to face Gyori ETO on league duty this weekend, but that fixture has been postponed to accommodate a high-profile meeting with Madrid in front of a packed stadium.

Like Madrid, Ferencvaros have also wasted no time hitting their stride in matches lately, having broken the deadlock eight times over their last nine matches, with August 2’s goalless stalemate with Vasas the exception.

No visiting team has managed to win at the Groupama Stadium since Gyori's 3-1 triumph in January, giving the hosts belief that they can pull off an upset against their more illustrious opponents.

However, Ferencvaros have yet to beat Spanish opposition in their last 12 attempts and have lost the last four encounters.

Ferencvaros form (all competitions):

Real Madrid friendlies form:

Team News

© Iconsport / Fernando Vazquez / Alamy Live News

Marc Cucurella, Ibrahima Konate, Antonio Rudiger, Aurelien Tchouameni, Brahim Diaz, Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior, and Kylian Mbappe have yet to feature in Madrid's pre-season following their involvement at the World Cup.

Thibaut Courtois was also on international duty in North America, but his absence is compounded by a thigh injury sustained against Spain.

Rodrygo and Eder Militao remain sidelined with thigh injuries, while Raul Asencio is expected to be out for around a month with a muscle problem.

New arrival Yan Diomande is Madrid's record signing after joining from Leipzig in a deal worth up to €140 million, and his debut is not expected until next week at the earliest.

Thirty-one-year-old Naby Keita has been injured since July and remains out of contention for Ferencvaros.

Daniel Arzani (hamstring) and Bence Otvos (knee) are also sidelined, with the latter unavailable since February.

Brazilian midfielder Cadu has registered three assists in his last four home appearances and will be aiming to provide more creativity.

Ferencvaros possible starting lineup:

Dibusz; Cadu, Gomez, Raemaekers, Osvath; Corbu, Kanichowsky, Levi; Bamidele, Joseph, Zachariassen

Real Madrid possible starting lineup:

Lunin; Carreras, Rivas, Martinez, Dumfries; Valverde, Lacosta; Yanez, Guler, Endrick; Espi

We say: Ferencvaros 1-2 Real Madrid

While far from full strength, Madrid should still have enough quality to edge past Ferencvaros, who are capable of giving their visitors a real test.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.