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Liam Happe
Current Champions League holders Real Madrid face a battle if they’re to retain the trophy ahead of the new-look Club World Cup next summer.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side are confirmed participants in the United States as the club tournament replicates the recent iterations of its international equivalent with 32 teams, group stages and knockout brackets.
Their continental club crusade hasn’t gone to plan in another experimental format, with the UCL using a new ‘League Stage’ starting this season, but there’s time for them to turn it around before they focus on trying to add another accolade to their resume.
So, who is likely to be first up for Los Blancos at the Club World Cup?
They’re in Pot 1 of 4, the top pot. This means their group will not contain fellow top-seeded teams Man City, Bayern Munich, PSG, Flamengo, Palmeiras, River Plate or Fluminense.
Each group at the Club World Cup will comprise of one team from Pot 1, a team from Pot 2, one from Pot 3 and one from Pot 4.
With Real being in Pot 1, we know they’ll face one team each from 2, 3 and 4.
Unless FIFA prevents teams from the same country being drawn together, Atletico Madrid are in Pot 2 and an all-new location for the Madrid derby could be on tap.
Real could also be grouped with the team they beat at Wembley to lift their latest Champions League, Borussia Dortmund, as well as Ancelotti’s former clubs Chelsea and Juventus.
As record winners of the Club World Cup in its old formats with five trophies, Real are no strangers to facing clubs outside of Europe and could be drawn with teams they’ve beaten in previous finals in Al Hilal and Al Ain.
If drawn with Pot 4’s Inter Miami, meanwhile, Real face a reunion with many players who featured in classic bouts between they and Barcelona from as part of El Clasico including Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and head coach Javier Mascherano.
MORE: All the latest soccer news | Real Madrid news | Explaining how 'socios' own Real Madrid
Liam is a freelance editor for The Sporting News working across global English editions.

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