International Champions Cup 2013: Predicting Thursday's 1st-Round Fixtures

The 2013 International Championship Cup is underway, and there are four teams in action on Thursday looking to head to the winners bracket with a victory.

Chelsea will be taking on Inter Milan, and Real Madrid will square off against the Los Angeles Galaxy. The pair of clubs that fail to come out victorious on Thursday will fall into the losers bracket and will no longer be in contention to win the title. The teams meeting in the final will need to stay undefeated.

Plenty of the world’s best soccer players are being showcased in these matches, and you can’t afford to miss the upcoming fixtures. It’s not every day you get to see an MLS team take on one of the best teams in La Liga or a Premier League powerhouse going up against a Serie A club.

So, which two teams will still have their title hopes intact after Thursday? Here’s a look at each fixture on the docket, with a prediction for which team will be victorious in each matchup.

Real Madrid Crushes L.A. Galaxy

The Galaxy may be the two-time defending champions of Major League Soccer, but they have quite the uphill battle if they’re going to defeat Real Madrid. It seems highly unlikely that the Galaxy are going to put enough goals in the back of the net to upset the favorites. Los Angeles will be lucky if it scores at all, in reality.

The two teams met this time last year in what was previously called the World Football Challenge. Real Madrid ran all over the Galaxy, as the Spanish club put five goals on the scoreboard while allowing just one. It wouldn’t be surprising to see a similar result on Thursday from Phoenix.

The Galaxy have a solid roster, but it doesn’t come close to the elite talent featured on Real Madrid. How is Los Angeles going to stop stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Xabi Alonso? The Galaxy will hope to keep the match competitive, but it could turn into a blowout quickly.

When the two clubs take the pitch on Thursday, Real Madrid are going to cruise to the winners bracket, as the Galaxy will fail to put a goal up on the scoreboard. The Los Angeles defense won’t collapse completely, but Real Madrid will manage to score at least three goals en route to a first-round victory.

Prediction: Real Madrid 4, L.A. Galaxy 0

Chelsea Escape Inter Milan

This fixture should be much more competitive than the other one scheduled for Thursday. Chelsea and Inter Milan are both strong clubs, but only one is going to have a tally in its win column at the end of the day. The winner of this match may only need to score a goal or two to head to the winners bracket.

Chelsea is one of the top clubs in the world and the Blues will be doing everything in their power to avoid a trip to the losers bracket. Chelsea have the stronger team, and that will be apparent when the club’s stars take the pitch. Expect to see big things from Ashley Cole, who could end up being the hero in this one.

In order for Cole to make an impact, though, he’ll need to get by Javier Zanetti, arguably Inter's top defender. Zanetti is going to need to play a strong game to make things easier for goalkeeper Samir Handanovic. If the defense doesn’t play well, there’s no way Inter will win this matchup.

Chelsea will struggle to get many scoring opportunities throughout the fixture but will put a pair of goals in the back of the net. Inter will score a late goal—around the 75-minute mark—to make things interesting. Inter will fail to get another goal, though, and Chelsea will come away with a victory.

Prediction: Chelsea 2, Inter Milan 1

All statistics and information in this article were obtained via the official website for the International Champions Cup.