Veteran Monterrey -defender Sergio Ramos said on Monday that his former team Real Madrid should be considered favorites to win the Club World Cup.
Paris Saint-Germain recently won the UEFA Champions League through Inter Milan in the final in Thrashing, with Liga MX-side Monterrey opposite the Italians in their opener in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
Ramos, now 39, believes that his former club, the Spanish giant Madrid, is the real team to beat.
“Real Madrid are always favorites in the big competitions,” Ramos told reporters prior to the group E collision to Inter.
“Real Madrid is the best in the world, for the level that the club and players have, for the mentality that has been sewn there for so many years.”
Madrid has a new coach in Xabi Alonso and recent arrivals Alexander-Arnold and Dean Huijsen.
“The arrival of Xabi will be interesting, he has won it all as a player and he knows how the club works,” said Ramos.
“That can help him a lot in this new era.”
Ramos said that Madrid's failure to win a big trophy this season was not due to last summer's tent that Kylian Mbappe signed, with whom he played at PSG.
“In the next five or 10 years I would bet Kylian will take four or five balloon d'Or Awards Home,” said Ramos.
The former captain of Real Madrid left in 2021 and said he would rather not encounter his former side in the United States.
“It is always nice to abandon your old teammates, but if we do not meet, that would be a lot better – and both them and we can avoid that discomfort,” he added.
Madrid opened their campaign in Miami against Saudi Arabian Alt Hilal on Wednesday.