While La Liga is only set to begin at the weekend, Real Madrid officially begin their season a couple of days before the league curtain raiser.
As the winners of the UCL, they take on the defending Europa League winners in the traditional UEFA Super Cup clash later tonight. Needless to say, the game will be a steep challenge even for the mighty Real Madrid.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s men may well have finished last season’s Serie A in fifth place. However, their march to the Europa League title was impressive, to say the least, and a statement that they can produce serious magic under pressure.
The final hurdle for the Italian side before they lifted the UEL title was Xabi Alonso’s mighty Bayer Leverkusen who won the Bundesliga by a stunning 17-point gap last season. Yet, they demolished the Germans by a 3-0 performance in a statement win.
Madrid Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Real Madrid’s clash against Atalanta.
Rewarding the champions
Real Madrid’s path to their 15th UEFA Champions League title earlier this year was far from simple.
Los Blancos were made to suffer for the greater part of the knockout stages, especially with Bayern Munich and Manchester City on the same side of the bracket.
Against all odds, the men in white pulled off astounding results to go on and lift the trophy in Wembley and it is only deserved that the manager gives the same XI a start tomorrow.
Carlo Ancelotti has made it clear that he intends to reward the team that won the title against Dortmund later tonight, although some crucial members of the XI are no longer a part of the club.
Real Madrid’s lineup on the night, thus, will not feature anything too fancy with nine of the eleven players who started at Wembley still at the club.
Eder Militao will take the place of Nacho Fernandez and Luka Modric is well-placed to replace Toni Kroos in that special lineup.
A debut for the ages
Real Madrid and Kylian Mbappe have waited years to link up, and it was only earlier this year that the much-awaited move finally achieved fruition.
Since confirming his move to Los Blancos, the French superstar participated in the European Championships with France and was far from his best. Earlier this month, he joined training under Carlo Ancelotti’s command and is raring to go.
While Mbappe will likely start the game against Atalanta on the bench, he is expected to make his debut in the Real Madrid colours on the night. Considering that he did not play a part in pre-season, it will be the first time the world sees him play in the white-coloured jersey.
Mbappe’s debut later tonight, needless to say, will go down as one of the moments of the decade irrespective of the result. In many ways, it signals the beginning of a new era for Real Madrid.
Like the Frenchman, another young star set to make his first official appearance for the club is Endrick. The Brazilian phenom did not live up to his tag in the team’s pre-season tour but will look to go big in his first game with consequences for Real Madrid.
Starting with gold
Very few clubs in world football get the privilege of starting the season with a trophy-winning clash. After all, it is not normal to stand one game away from silverware in the first game of the season.
As the defending UEFA Champions League winners, the Merengues are blessed with that rare chance. They are even the favourites heading into Wednesday’s clash against Atalanta and it is safe to say that they might well get their hands on the prize.
While Real Madrid are the record UCL winners with 15 titles to their name, one achievement that has escaped them so far is being the club with the most UEFA Super Cups.
Currently tied with Barcelona and AC Milan on that front, Ancelotti’s men can pull clear with a win later tonight.
All eyes, needless to say, will be on the Italian tactician’s setup, tactics, preferences and team chemistry on the night for it could well dictate how the team performs over the next year.