The Club World Cup final takes place this weekend and features a match-up between Europe's reigning champion Real Madrid and Argentine club San Lorenzo, the winner of the 2014 Copa Libertadores.

This is seventh time in the tournament's history that the European champion takes on the South American victor. As the record stands, European teams have won five of those match-ups. In the most recent final between two clubs from those two continents, Brazil's Corinthians took down Chelsea 1-0.

Real Madrid enters the contest as the clear-cut favorite, but as exhibited in this short tournament, anything can happen. Can San Lorenzo stage an upset? To see those possibilities, it is essential to see how the teams got here:

Real Madrid's Decima

The Spanish side experienced a historic run in 2013-14 when it captured the elusive tenth European Cup (La Decima). The team dominated the group stage with five victories and one draw. Superstar Cristiano Ronaldo scored nine goals in the six matches, setting a record while the rest of the team scored 20 goals and conceded five.

In the knockout rounds, the team destroyed a "curse" of playing German sides by annihilating Schalke 04 6-1 in Gelsenkirchen. Then Los Blancos finished the deal with a 3-1 win at home. In the following round, Real Madrid was tasked with taking down a familiar foe in Borussia Dortmund. Jurgen Klopp's side had demolished Madrid in 2012-13 with a win and draw in the group stage and then a 4-1 victory at home to essentially take the semifinal away from the Spanish side. This time around, Madrid jumped out to a 3-0 win at home, and despite losing 2-0 in a nervy contest, the team pulled through to the semifinal.

In the match-up with Bayern Munich, Real Madrid was the heavy underdog. But a 1-0 win at home gave the side confidence and then a shocking 4-0 winning in Munich asserted the team's dominance.

The final against rival Atletico Madrid proved difficult, but last minute heroics from Sergio Ramos sent the game into extra time where the rest of the team pounded a tired Atletico side. A 4-1 win led to the trophy and the team's 4-0 win over Cruz Azul last week booked a spot in the final.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who won this tournament in 2008 as a member of Manchester United, has yet to score in the Club World Cup and will certainly look to punctuate his brilliant 2014 year with a tally. 

San Lorenzo

The Argentine side did not have quite the cakewalk to lift the South American trophy. The team finished second in Group 2 with two wins, two draws and two losses. Goals were hard to come by as the team only scored six times in the group.

Then, the grueling part came. The first knockout round opponent was Gremio. After winning 1-0 at home, the team dropped a 1-0 decision away. This forced penalties where a 4-2 margin allowed the team to move on to the next round.

In the quarterfinals, another Brazilian side waited, this time in the form of Cruzeiro. A 1-0 win at home was the difference as the two sides drew 1-1 in Brazil.

And then came Bolivar, a team that San Lorenzo destroyed 5-0 at home before losing 1-0 away.

And then the final. Unlike Europe's tournament, which requires one deciding game, the Copa Libertadores has two legs. In the first leg in Paraguay, San Lorenzo held a 1-0 lead until Julio Santa Cruz tied it up in the second minute of stoppage time. But at home, a penalty goal from Nestor Ortigoza in the 35th minute proved enough to secure the championship.

In the Club World Cup, San Lorenzo narrowly defeated Auckland City 2-1 to earn a berth in the final.

Who Has the Edge 

By all accounts, Real Madrid should win this. But it will not be easy.

While there have been lopsided score lines in the final matches (all of them in favor of European sides), the most recent contests have been narrow score lines. In 2012, Corinthians won 1-0 with a goal in the 69th minute. Last year, Bayern Munich got two early goals in a 2-0 win over Raja Casablanca.

Barcelona's 4-0 win over Santos in 2011 was the highest difference in goals in a final thus far.

Predictions

Real Madrid takes it 3-1.

Schedule

The 2014 FIFA Club World Cup Final takes place at 2:3o p.m. EDT Saturday and can be seen on Fox Sports 2 . Live streaming of the game can be seen on Fox Soccer 2 GO.

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