On Saturday Real Madrid moved to the semi-final of the World Cup with victory over Borussia Dortmund, but they will be without Dean Huijsen for the confrontation against Paris Saint-Germain. The defender, signed earlier in the summer at AFC Bournemouth, was sent in a stop time, which means that he will be suspended against the European champions.
Huijsen has been excellent in the United States, but he will not be available for Real Madrid's biggest match of the Club World Cup so far. And that is a big headache for Xabi Alonso, who is already without the wounded Eder Militao and David Alaba.
According to MD, Alonso has three players who can replace Huijsen in the Real Madrid Start-Line-Up for the PSG showdown, which takes place on Wednesday at the Metlife Stadium, where Los Blancos was in action against Borussia Dortmund.
The most likely to start is Raul Asencio. He was in the line-up for the matches against Al-Hilal and Pachuca, which he was sent to himself. He has struggled in the United States, but his performances at large competitions during the 2024-25 season have been largely impressive.
Aurelien Tchouameni has succeeded many occasions in the last 12 months as an improvised center-back and he played there in a three during the Club World Cup. But Alonso may be uncertain about the use of him there besides Antonio Rudiger as a few, especially because his presence in midfield would be lost.
The third and least likely, option is Jacobo Ramon, who made an impression during the last phases of the La Liga season in matches against Mallorca and Sevilla. But even though it has been playing in the club World Cup for 23 minutes so far, it is unlikely that Alonso risks him against a side of PSG's quality from the start.
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