The first slice of European stardom for the 2024-25 season is up for grabs on Wednesday evening, as Real Madrid and Atalanta BC clash in Warsaw in the latest edition of the UEFA Super Cup.
Los Blancos added Champions League title number 15 to their ever-growing collection last season, while their Italian foes unexpectedly slayed a hitherto invincible Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final.
Match preview
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As chance after chance went begging for Borussia Dortmund during the 2023-24 Champions League final under the Wembley arch, the consensus was that the German giants would be left to regret those wasted opportunities against Carlo Ancelotti's Real, whose continental nous is second to none.
True enough, the men in white taught Dortmund a harsh lesson in ruthlessness through Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Junior in the second half to regain their rightful European Cup trophy, one of three crowns they won in 2023-24 alongside the La Liga title and Spanish Super Cup.
A last-16 exit in the Copa del Rey was the only miniscule not on Ancelotti's Bernabeu notebook, and 'Don Carlo' - as he is affectionately known in the Spanish capital - has elected to continue in the Real hotseat for at least one more season, despite previous claims of an agreement with the Brazil national team.
In customary Blancos fashion, the European champions have not undertaken a major summer overhaul of their squad - which is now without two stalwarts in Toni Kroos and Nacho Fernandez - but Kylian Mbappe is finally donning the famous strip after years of trying.
The former Paris Saint-Germain forward has been observing Real's mixed pre-season from afar - Ancelotti's men overcame Chelsea and Albacete either side of defeats to AC Milan and Barcelona - but will now aid Los Blancos' quest for an unprecedented sixth UEFA Super Cup honour.
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While Real Madrid's current total of five UEFA Super Cup crowns puts them at the top of the charts alongside their two recent conquerors in Barcelona and Milan, Wednesday's battle in Warsaw will represent Atalanta's baptism in the continental curtain-raiser after their Ademola Lookman-inspired Europa League triumph.
In spite of their previous stunning success over pre-tournament favourites Liverpool, few gave Gian Piero Gasperini's men any hope of trumping Xabi Alonso's Leverkusen juggernaut, only for an astounding Lookman hat-trick to clinch La Dea's inaugural European title, and their first trophy of any sort for 61 years.
From missing a horrendous panenka penalty against West Ham United during his Fulham days to becoming the first man to score a hat-trick in a Europa League final, Lookman may have single-handedly destroyed the Leverkusen defence goals-wise, but Gasperini received numerous plaudits for how his troops pressed the Bundesliga Invincibles off the park.
Europa League glory complemented a fourth-placed Serie A finish and Coppa Italia runners-up medal for the Italian titans, who also have a meeting with Copa Sudamericana winners LDU Quito to come in the UEFA-CONMEBOL Club Challenge, in addition to participating in next year's Supercoppa Italiana.
However, Gasperini's men have posted a pitiful set of pre-season results - a 2-2 draw with AZ Alkmaar preceded heavy losses to Parma (4-1) and FC St. Pauli (3-0) - but as Dublin witnessed a few months ago, Atalanta can turn the heat up to maximum when a European trophy is on the line.
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Team News
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Only missing experienced defender David Alaba amid his lengthy ACL recovery - although Eduardo Camavinga is nursing a training ground knock too - Real Madrid's starting XI in Warsaw should be headlined by the inclusion of Mbappe, who is now fully integrated with the group following his post-Euro 2024 holiday.
Finalists Carvajal and Jude Bellingham should also be present in a near full-strength lineup from Ancelotti, who has talked up the fledgling Endrick and Arda Guler ahead of the UEFA Super Cup but should not consider them for starts here.
Mbappe's arrival has led to speculation surrounding the futures of Brazilian wing wizards Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior, the latter of whom is said to have turned down a mammoth Saudi Pro League offer, but both are expected to support their French colleague in midweek.
Atalanta have made a couple of marquee attacking signings of their own - concluding a permanent deal for Charles De Ketelaere and capturing Mateo Retegui from Genoa - while also adding Ben Godfrey, Nicolo Zaniolo and Ibrahim Sulemana to their ranks.
Some members of the old guard - Hans Hateboer, Pierluigi Gollini, Duvan Zapata and Aleksei Miranchuk - have made way for Gasperini's new arrivals, and Retegui could very well make his competitive debut up top, as Gianluca Scamacca will be out for months with an ACL injury.
Giorgio Scalvini is also on the long road to rehabilitation from a similar problem but should be back before the end of the calendar year, while midfield maestro Ederson remains at the Gewiss Stadium despite links with a few Premier League powerhouses.
However, Netherlands international Teun Koopmeiners - wanted by Juventus and Liverpool - is confirmed to have handed in a transfer request and should not be involved in the Super Cup, while Zaniolo, Rafael Toloi and El Bilal Toure are also out for various reasons.
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Carvajal, Rudiger, Militao, Mendy; Valverde, Tchouameni, Bellingham; Rodrygo, Mbappe, Vinicius Junior
Atalanta BC possible starting lineup:
Musso; Djimsiti, Hien, Kolasinac; Zappacosta, Pasalic, Ederson, Ruggeri; Lookman, De Ketelaere; Retegui
"The pinnacle in the history of Atalanta" - what have the managers said?
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti
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"It's going to be tough as always because it's the beginning of the season. But we are going there with every confidence and conviction, while bearing in mind all the challenges.
"I believe Atalanta deserve to be there because they played an amazing Europa League campaign, knocking out top teams like Liverpool. They were able to win those kinds of games easily, even the final. So, we respect this team a lot, but we hope to be on our best form.
"I don't think anyone expected [Atalanta to beat Leverkusen so comfortably in the Europa League final]. As I said, Atalanta had an amazing season.
"They're a very dangerous team that plays in a special and unique way. Bayer Leverkusen weren't able to play in the way they were used to playing, because of the huge effort the Atalanta players put in.
"[Gasperini and I] have a great relationship. We are friends. Our relationship started at Juventus[when Gasperini led the youth team while Ancelotti was first-team boss].
"[Atalanta are] consistently playing in Europe thanks to Gasperini and, since he arrived, they're doing very well in Italy too. Some excellent and important players have emerged from the team. So, he has done an amazing job, and he continues to do so."
Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini
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"[This] will be an extraordinary occasion for Atalanta, for Bergamo, for the history of the place. We are playing against the most decorated club in the world, against the team that has won the most in the world.
"To play a final like this, for this trophy against such an important club, would have been unthinkable until fairly recently. There's a huge sense of pride. Also, a feeling of wanting to be there, of wanting to go there and put in a great performance and hold our own against a club who are historically the stronger team.
"It's a really inspiring moment for the whole of Bergamo, all the fans. There's no doubt it's a high point, perhaps the pinnacle in the history of Atalanta.
"Carlo is clearly an institution the world over. He is without question the coach who has won the most. He's done that with many different clubs, and he is doing amazing things at Real Madrid. He did it before with them and he's doing it again.
"Clearly for us, at least for me anyway, it will be very special to be playing against him in this final, considering 30 years ago I was coaching the youth team at Juventus and he was coaching the first team. That was many years ago, but it will be wonderful to meet again in this final."
We say: Real Madrid 3-1 Atalanta BC
Neither Real Madrid nor Atalanta have been setting pitches alight in pre-season, although Euros, Copa America and Olympics disruption is partially to blame, and Gasperini's troops command plenty of respect from their more revered foes.
However, the astonishing attacking depth in Ancelotti's ranks is too difficult to ignore, and we can only envisage the Champions League winners coming up trumps in Warsaw, potentially with a debut goal for Mbappe.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
