A glamorous mid-season friendly will see Paris Saint Germain square off against Real Madrid in Doha, Qatar on the 2nd of January.

Preview: Another Ibra-Ronaldo showdown on the cards

Last time the two men were on the same pitch the match ended in a five goal thriller and both Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo scored all of their side’s goals as Portugal beat Sweden 3-2 in the second leg of the WCQ play-off to secure a place in the last 32.

This time when the two men face one another, the match will be played in the context of a friendly match but there is no denying that it promises to be a spectacle given the number of world class players which are present on either side.

 

One of the players who will definitely be looking to leave his mark is Uruguayan international Edinson Cavani. The 26 year old since making his big money move to the French champions has established himself as an important team member and in only 18 starts for the capital club, he has scored 16 goals in what is turning out to be a remarkable debut season for the former Napoli hit-man.

The Uruguayan seems in a buoyant mood ahead of the big friendly fixture and has claimed that the match holds a lot of significance despite there being no points at stake.

“Facing Real Madrid is always something prestigious. Even if it’s a friendly match and the result does not matter, this game is a big one and a big picture. Hopefully, this should lead to a good game,” said Cavani.

The Parisiens have experienced a dip in form recently having dropped four points in their last four league games and will be looking to put a dominant performance at the Khalifa International Stadium. Laurent Blanc’s men are still top of the table but their antics have seen other title rivals including Monaco and Lille to narrow the gap to three and four points respectively.

Real Madrid on the other hand head into the match in fine form having not lost a match in their last 12 games. The Merengues are however third in the league table, five points behind Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

Los Blancos will be without a number of players, with summer signing Gareth Bale one of the players doubtful for the match. The Welshman did not feature in Madrid’s last match against Valencia and according to a club statement trained indoors prior to the match against PSG.

German Star Sami Khedira is the club’s only long term injury and is definitely out of Thursday’s encounter. The Spanish side are also expected to be without defenders Raphael Varane and Fabio Coentrao who are suffering from knee and ankle injuries respectively.

PSG on the other hand will be without defender Christophe Jallet who will continue to nurse his calf injury. Former Barcelona defender Maxwell is also likely to miss the match due to a rib injury he suffered last month.

Last time the two sides met was in a pre-season match prior to the commencement of the 2013/2014 season. The match did not prove to be a thriller like it was expected to be and Karim Benzema scored the only goal of the match as Madrid score a 1-0 victory.

Where to watch the match – live stream, start time, TV channels, Live scores

Watch PSG vs Real Madrid live on Wednesday January 2, 2014:

In Canada at 9:45 ET on beIN Sport Play Canada

In UK at 14:45 BST on NOW TV powered by Sky, Sky Sports 1 Ireland, Sky Go UK, Sky Sports 1/HD

In US at 9:45 ET on beIN Sport en Español, beIN Sport USA, beIN Sport Play, SiriusXM FC

Fans in the Middle East can watch the match live on Al Jazeera Sport +9 and Al Jazeera Sport +10.

For complete details of match listings and live scores, visit the PSG vs Real Madrid match page.