Real Madrid 19/20
Draw 26/10
Chelsea 5/2
The all-star International Champions Cup is the ultimate pre-season tournament that features some of the biggest European clubs on show. Each win in regulation will result in three points and a tie will go straight to a shootout; the winning team in a shootout will receive two points and the losing team will receive one. European giants Real Madrid and Chelsea will square off at Michigan Stadium on Saturday. This pre-season friendly will provide fans with the chance to get a first glimpse of their new superstar signings, and see how their teams are shaping up ahead of the eagerly awaited new season.
Real Madrid
This will be only Real Madrid’s second pre-season friendly with their first against Paris Saint-Germain two days earlier. For Chelsea, it will be their fourth friendly so they are clearly in better shape physically. It will be a good challenge for the European champions, but they will relish the opportunity to flex their muscles against tough opposition.
Real Madrid currently field a roster featuring some of the best players in the world including Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez as well as home-grown Spanish talent Sergio Ramos, Isco and Alvaro Morata.
Reports continue to link Morata with a subsequent transfer to Chelsea, but the 23-year-old claimed it was a dream to be back at the club he joined as a youth player in 2008. Morata performed well at Euro 
2016, scoring three goals for Spain, but he faces a tough task of breaking up the BBC (Bale, Benzema and Cristiano). The Spaniard will be keen to impress Zinedine Zidane and show he has all the qualities needed to spearhead Madrid’s attack for the coming season.
Another player keen to impress will be James who had an underwhelming second season at the Santiago Bernabeu. In his first year, James was a real star under the stewardship of Carlo Ancelotti where he scored 13 goals in 29 La Liga appearances. Last season, the 25-year-old struggled to replicate that form and made just 17 starts in the league.
Real are currently without all eight of their players who featured in the European Championship with their respective countries in France. Ronaldo and Pepe lifted the Euros trophy with Portugal, while Toni Kroos made it to the semi-finals with Germany, and Gareth Bale did likewise with Wales. Spaniards Ramos and Lucas Vasquez were knocked out in the last-16 by Italy, while Luka Modric and Mateo Kovacic’s Croatia were beaten by eventual winners Portugal at the same stage.
Chelsea
After some low profile matches in Austria, Chelsea will now take things up a notch against quality opposition as part of the International Champions Cup. After a surprise 3-0 defeat by Rapid Vienna in their first pre-season friendly, Chelsea were 3-0 winners against RZ Pellets WAC and Antonio Conte will be looking to build on that performance.
Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois have started pre-season training having been given extended time off following Euro 2016. Hazard created four goals at Euro 2016, the joint-highest with Wales’ Aaron Ramsey, having claimed just three assists during a largely poor Premier League campaign in which he only scored his first league goal in April. Chelsea’s No 10 has pledged to stay at Stamford Bridge, ending speculating of a move to opponents Real Madrid. Conte has almost a full quota of talent to choose from including new signings N’Golo Kante, Michy Batshuayi and Juan Cuadrado, who spent last season on loan at Juventus. Branislav Ivanovic has travelled, as has Kurt Zouma, though both will be limited as they recover from short-term and long-term injuries, respectively. John Obi Mikel is preparing for the Olympics with Nigeria and misses the tour, while youngsters Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori and goalkeeper Nathan Baxter have travelled with Conte’s first team.
The Blues have been playing a 4-2-4 formation, with better use of wingers and, importantly, two strikers to give them a better presence in the final third. The duo in midfield will likely be new boy Kante and Cesc Fabregas. The Spaniard is an expert at picking out team-mates from deep, and with the safeguard of a reliable defensive midfielder alongside him, he can get back to focusing on his strengths. Up front, Chelsea have a lethal strike force pair of Diego Costa and Michy Batshuayi. The young Belgian sensation scored 17 goals for Marseille in Ligue 1 last season.
Prediction: Chelsea (5/2)
Chelsea are in good shape physically and look to be finding their rhythm under Conte. In pre-season friendlies, getting fit is more important than results. However, the Blues are quite far ahead in their preparations for the new season and will now aim to convert their matches into victories. Los Blancos are not at full strength which gives Chelsea the advantage as they welcome a host of first-team players. Back the Blues to oust their opponents.
Chadley Nagel
