In the sweetness of Helsinki, Real Madrid, champions league winnerwill set off on Wednesday (9 p.m.) for the UEFA Super Cup against Eintracht Frankfurt, crowned in the Europa Leaguewith the desire to start his season with a first trophy.
The snub Kylian Mbappé digested, Real arrives full of certainties, with its recent continental title and its promising recruits, Antonio Rüdiger and Aurélien Tchouaméni, who will play their first official match in the Madrid jersey.
Quite the opposite of Eintracht, who has just been swept away 6-1 by Bayern Munich Friday at the opening of the German championship, and who still does not know if his left midfielder Filip Kostic will be able to be there on Wednesday.
The Serbian star of Eintracht has reached a pre-agreement with Juventus of Turin, according to the press, and is only waiting for the two clubs to agree on the amount of transfer fees (Kostic is still in contract until June 2023), which amount to around fifteen million euros.
On Friday, during the correction received against Bayern, Kostic sent the supporters a strong greeting… perhaps definitive.
Benzema can overtake Raul
In Madrid, on the other hand, this Supercup is seen as an opportunity to start the season with a first title, four days before the first day of the championship in Almeria.
Real are coming off a convincing summer tour of the United States, with a narrow defeat against Barça (1-0), a 2-2 draw against Club América and a 2-0 victory against Juve.
In the event of coronation, Carlo Ancelotti will become the first coach in history to accumulate four European Supercups.
Karim Benzema could surpass Raul’s 323 goals in the Merengue jersey and become the only 2nd top scorer in club history. The French striker could also equal the 23 titles of legend Paco Gento, and take a step closer to the Ballon d’Or, which already seems to be reaching out to him two months before the ceremony (October 17).
And this trophy would be the 98th in the big cabinet of Real, the most successful club in the world, ahead of Barça’s 96.
Challenge for UEFA
This European Super Cup will also be a new challenge for UEFA: after the excesses that marred the Champions League final at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis on May 28, the body that manages European football knows that the football world will have its eyes fixed on it and on the small Olympic stadium in Helsinki (36,000 seats).
Especially since German fans are known to move massively, as in the final of the Europa League in Seville on May 18, won on penalties (1-1, 5-4 tab against Glasgow Rangers), where more than 50,000 Eagles fans had flocked.
A month earlier, 30,000 German supporters had flocked to Camp Nou to see their team defeat FC Barcelona 3-2 in the quarter-final second leg.
It will also be the first appearance of semi-automated offside technology, which UEFA will install in the Champions League from September.
A promising first major football celebration of the season in Helsinki, between two teams who have vivid memories of their last official confrontation: in the C1 final in May 1960, the “White House” beat Eintracht 7-3 at Hampden Park in Glasgow, starting his legend.
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