Real Madrid meet derby rivals Atletico Madrid in UEFA Super Cup
Champions League winners Real Madrid clash with derby rivals and Europa League winners Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup. The fixture will see Real Madrid compete for their third straight Super Cup.
Los Blancos have won the trophy in each of the last two seasons.However, this year’s Real Madrid squad is far different than the previous incarnations.
Atletico Madrid go into Wednesday night’s game having had a tremendous summer in the transfer market. The club signed highly-sought after French winger Thomas Lemar and exciting defensive midfielder Rodri. Most importantly, the club kept all of its major players.
Antoine Griezmann, Diego Costa, and Jan Oblak all stayed with two of the three signing new contracts. While Atletico had so-so preseason friendly results, their losses to Paris Saint-Germain and Internazionale could be down to the club’s top players still recovering from the World Cup and not playing in most cases.
Real Madrid’s summer was dominated by the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus. Thibaut Courtois arrived from Chelsea, however, his signing won’t replace the goals of Ronaldo. Real Madrid are in a transition phase and it doesn’t look likely the club will replace Ronaldo’s goals before August 31 when the transfer window closes.
Ronaldo’s exit will give Gareth Bale more of a starring role. The Welshman lobbied for a move away last May, but seems to be content with both manager Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo having left. Real Madrid also have a new manager in the dugout. Julen Lupetegui takes over for Zidane and he has big shoes to fill. Lupetegui was sacked on the eve of the World Cup as Spain’s coach. His decision to join Real Madrid had disastrous effects on the Spain team.
There is a power shift taking place in Madrid and La Liga. Atletico finished in second last term while Real Madrid ended in third. Manager Diego Simeone has turned Atletico into a world power and the club has financial backing on the same level as other major European clubs. Griezmann has proven himself to be a big game player. He scored 29 goals in all competitions last term including two in the Europa League final win.
Although Real Madrid have just as good of players as Atletico, the loss of Ronaldo is a major factor. Too often, he carried Real Madrid over the line when the team was struggling. There is no guarantee Real Madrid will be the same as they were in the last few seasons with Ronaldo, so could Wednesday night’s fixture finally see Atletico get the best of their rivals or the dominance of Real Madrid in European matches will continue ? Forebet predicts that Champions League winner still have the chance to win another European trophy.
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