Gonzalo Garcia or Kylian Mbappe? Xabi Alonso on who will start for Real Madrid vs PSG

It would have seemed a preposterous question to ask a few short weeks ago, but with Kylian Mbappé healthy enough to play a part in the last two Real Madrid matches at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup one has to wonder whether the superstar will start for Los Blancos on Wednesday in their semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain.

Mbappé missed the entire group stage due to an illness that required a hospital stay, but the France international was back to his best on Saturday as he scored an outrageous overhead kick goal against Borussia Dortmund in Real Madrid's wild quarter-final victory.

With the 26-year-old gradually working his way back to full fitness, it could be expected that he would be slotted into Xabi Alonso's starting XI in Wednesday's mouthwatering contest.

However, Gonzalo Garcia has staked a claim in the lineup during Mbappé's absence, launching himself to the top of the tournament's Golden Boot race with four Club World Cup goals so far. The 21-year-old has arguably been the revelation of this summer's competition as he showed that he is finally ready to make a full-time step up to the first team after starring for Real Madrid Castilla for the past two seasons.

“He’s taken advantage of his opportunity again,” Alonso said of the young player. “He’s scored 25 goals for Castilla. He’s where he belongs. We’re happy with him."

As his manager stated, Garcia has not looked out of place leading the Real Madrid attack in the United States alongside Vinicius Jr., but Mbappé is now on 44 goals so far in his debut season for the La Liga giants and has earned the right to maximise his opportunities to add to that stunning total.

So what will Alonso do on Wednesday? The Real Madrid manager hinted at his still early thought process for how his team will line up against PSG, but it depends on how Mbappé progresses in the days leading up to the match.

“Mbappé is still not in perfect shape," he said. "He’s not at 100%.

"Now we have three days for him to fully recover for the PSG game."

The winners of PSG vs Real Madrid will move on to the July 13 final, where they'll face the winners of Fluminense vs Chelsea.

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