Real Madrid will start their preseason preparations ahead of the 2026-27 La Liga campaign with a club friendly against Fiorentina on Saturday night. These two clubs will meet on neutral ground at the Wörthersee Stadion in Klagenfurt – a stadium with a capacity of 30,000 spectators.
Los Blancos have already visited Klagenfurt during the 2021 preseason to face AC Milan, and they will return to Austria a year after beating WSG Tirol 4-0 in Innsbruck last summer in another friendly. On the other hand, this will be the second club friendly for La Viola this summer.
Real Madrid and Fiorentina last faced off in a club friendly nine years ago, when the former won 2-1. Cristiano Ronaldo had two goal contributions (one goal, one assist) to help Los Blancos nullify Jordan Veretout’s fourth-minute goal.
The La Liga 2026 odds expect Real Madrid to beat Fiorentina. Today, SBOTOP talks about some notable La Liga 2026 news ahead of this exhibition match.
Real Madrid to parade their newest additions
This Saturday marks the first time that Jose Mourinho will coach Real Madrid again, and the team looks drastically different under him, following the moves they’ve completed so far this offseason.
After parting ways with David Alaba, Dani Ceballos, Dani Carvajal, and Fran Garcia, Los Blancos bought Marc Cucurella and Denzel Dumfries for €75 million while adding Ibrahima Konate and Bernardo Silva on free transfers. And yesterday, they just completed the €25 million signing of Carlos Espi. Real Madrid are also expected to bring in Yan Diomande soon, but the deal has yet to be fully confirmed at the time of writing.
Espi’s arrival is a surprise, as he was not linked to Real Madrid before. This is an underrated get for Los Blancos, as the 21-year-old striker led Levante in scoring last term with 11 goals. Overall, Espi scored 20 goals in 66 matches for Los Granotes. We don’t expect him to usurp Kylian Mbappe as the starting No. 9 this upcoming season, but Espi can nail a backup role if he proves his worth this preseason.
Real Madrid fans are also curious to see how their midfield will play out. They are particularly interested in the dynamics between Fede Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni, especially after their high-profile training-ground altercation last term, which resulted in heavy fines and a hospital visit for Valverde.
Real Madrid suffer injury blow
Unfortunately for Real Madrid, they won’t have their full squad against Fiorentina this weekend. Some of their World Cup stars aren’t expected to be back, especially Thibaut Courtois, who suffered a quadriceps injury during Belgium’s 2-1 loss to Spain in the quarter-finals. Eder Militao, Rodrygo, and Ferland Mendy are all continuing their individual rehabilitation programmes as they work toward returning to 100-per cent fitness.
Moreover, Raul Asencio is another key absence, as the 23-year-old centre-back sustained a leg injury that could keep him out for weeks. He made 23 La Liga appearances for Los Blancos last term, as he dealt with multiple injuries, including a head knock in February, followed by calf problems.
Asencio’s untimely injury throws a monkey wrench into one of Real Madrid’s transfer objectives this summer. Los Blancos wanted to offload Asencio to give them space to pursue Inter Milan’s Alessandro Bastoni, but this is unlikely to happen anytime soon. With Real Madrid soon to withdraw, Barcelona could swoop in to get the Italian centre-back.
For now, Asencio will focus on returning to full strength. But once he does, he will find it hard to play significant minutes, with Militao, Konate, Antonio Rudiger, and Dean Huijsen in front of him in the pecking order.
Fiorentina fresh from close win against Watford
Fiorentina have had a busier summer window than Real Madrid based on their overall activity, and head coach Fabio Grosso got a glimpse of what he has at his disposal during their 1-0 win over Watford yesterday. Roberto Piccoli’s solitary strike in the 38th minute was enough for La Viola to win the club friendly, which included an emotional reunion with Edoardo Bove.
New signing Arthur Atta played well in his Fiorentina debut. The €25 million summer signing played behind Piccoli and Albert Gudmundsson in Grosso’s experiment. Nicolo Fagioli, Cher Ndour, and Rolando Mandragora comprised the midfield. Moise Kean – their top scorer last season with eight league goals – was absent for this game, but is expected to feature against Los Blancos. The only negative about this game for La Viola is Marco Brescianini, their €10 million summer signing from Atalanta. The 26-year-old midfielder sustained an ankle injury early in the second half.
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