Real Madrid emerged the record holders of the UEFA Super Cup for the sixth time in history by beating Europa League winners Atalanta 2-0 in Warsaw on Wednesday as the Los Blancos unleashed French forward Kylian Mbappé.
The former PSG frontman joined the capital club as a free agent in the summer, and he marked his Real Madrid debut with a goal.
There was an anticipation for how the European champions will line up, and Carlo Ancelotti did put up a menacing forward line that had Mbappé, Jude Bellingham, and Vinícius Jr.
The La Liga champions started well, and their first threat came in the early stages down the right flank through Federico Valderde and Dani Carvajal. However, the Italian defense was up to the task in their first UEFA Super Cup appearance, and they also went toe to toe with the Los Blancos.
Despite Gian Piero Gasperini’s men’s efforts, their best effort in the first half was when Marten de Roon’s cross deflected off Éder Militão onto the bar.
The Italians almost opened the scoring again when Éderson fired wide off the post before the end of the first half while Real Madrid could have gone into the break with a lead but Rodrygo’s effort only crashed off the bar, as both teams went into half-time level.
The second half started with Atalanta’s continued threats, but an exceptional fingertip save from Thibaut Courtois kept out Mario Pašalić’s header. Moments later, Real Madrid made Atalanta pay when Vinícius Jr dribbled into the box, getting past his man before laying up Valverde to tap into an empty net.
Bellingham could have immediately doubled the Los Blancos lead, but his shot was deflected and eventually tipped away by Juan Musso. He wouldn’t deny Real Madrid nor Kylian Mbappé, who fired into the top corner after being picked out by Bellingham in the box.
