EI real Madrid seek Wednesday to be super champion of Europe for the fifth time. In Helsinki, and against Eintracht Frankfurt, Ancelotti and his team will try to regain a title they have not won since 2017. An appointment which for some prolongs his brilliant history with Madrid and for others the first.
1- Courtois, red and white
Key to victory in the Champions League, the Belgian goalkeeper won the Super Cup 10 years ago when it was still being played in Monaco. He did it with Atlético de Madrid, who crushed Chelsea (4-1). In 2018, the one where the rojiblancos beat Madrid in Tallinn, he was not called up because he had only been a madridista for a week.
2. Carvajal and his goal in 2016
Of the group of players who aspire to have four Supercoopas, the record is held by Dani Alves and Paolo Maldini. Of the three he has, one of his goals in the last minute of extra time was what decided the title in 2016, against Sevilla in Trondheim after Ramos tied the match in his favorite minute: 93.
Carvajal’s big goal that gave Madrid the European Super Cup
3. Militao, first experience
The Brazilian centre-back is among those making his Helsinki debut in this competition. He does so after two seasons in which he cleared up doubts and established himself as a starter.
4. Praise, in two colors
The Austrian already has two European Super Cups, the ones he won with Bayern in 2013 and 2021. In both, against Chelsea and Sevilla, the match went to extra time. Alaba has won at least one title per season since 2011-12.
5. Vallejo zero for two
It’s not that he lost two finals. He lived two as a Madridista, but not even on the bench. In the first, Skopje against Manchester United, he was dropped from the list. In Tallinn he was injured. In Helsinki, it is within the limit of possible rejections.
6. Nacho, without minutes
If he plays against Eintracht, they will be the first to play in the Super Cup. During Ancelotti’s previous one, that of 2014 against Sevilla in Cardiff, he was not on the list; The other three (2016, 17 and 18) I experienced on the bench.
7. Al end Danger?
It’s one of the questions this season, whether Hazard can be important in the white team. The Helsinki final is perhaps the first in which the Belgian plays a leading role. He hasn’t played anything in Paris or in the two Madrid Supercups since his arrival. With Chelsea, he lost two in a row: 2012 (Atltico de Madrid) and 2013 (Bayern).
Stay with who admires you and flatters you like Valverde does with Kroos
8. Kroos and his first memory
Kroos’ collection of titles with Madrid stands at 16. The first of those stops was the 2014 European Super Cup, when Madrid beat Sevilla in Cardiff in the German’s first official minutes with Madrid’s 8. It’s another that goes for the four of Alves and Maldini. He could already have them, but he couldn’t play in the 2016 final because he only trained two days after reaching the semi-finals of the European Championship in France with Germany.
9. Benzema would lift the title
Karim reached that final touch of 2016, but he played it. He is one of those who also have three titles. He comes to this as a big star of the team. And captain. If Madrid win, Karim will be the one to lift the trophy. He scored a goal in the four finals he played (in the 2018 loss). The tournament record is three…
10. Modric forz and Tallinn
The Croatian played the last 63 minutes against Atltico de Madrid after entering the pitch in the 57th minute for Kroos. It was a madness, because Modric came from a tough World Cup in which Croatia reached the final. It turned out badly and it was Modric’s only defeat in the four European Super Cup finals he played.
11. Asensio’s superb goal against Sevilla
An impressive left foot from the Balearics opened the scoring in the 2016 final against Sevilla. A house brand target. The following year, he played the last quarter of an hour against Manchester United and in 2018 he started in Lopetegui’s eleven. He arrives in Helsinki after a summer in which his name was among those of possible exits.
Asensio’s big goal against Sevilla in the Super Cup
12. Odriozola, without ridge
We are looking for a way out because Ancelotti’s message is clear. On the club website, like Reinier, he lacks a number. The 2018 Super Cup was his first official match as a Real Madrid player, but he was unable to dress due to injury. S traveled to Tallinn.
13. Luna, a special year
With her country overrun by Russian troops, the Ukrainian meta travels to Finland, a nation bordering Russia and threatened by Putin. The Champions League was already very special for a Lunin who was Keylor’s substitute in the 2018 final. He has yet to feature for Madrid in Europe.
14. Casemiro, from transfer to captain general
That of 2014 saw her playing for Porto, to whom she left on loan in mid-July. His goal opened the way to the 2017 Super Cup title, against Manchester United in Skopje. He has three crowns and, like Modric, he was among those who stepped up to help Tallinn in 2018, but with a quarter of an hour left before 90 he picked up an injury.
Fede Valverde is indisputable in this Madrid starting the 2022-23 season. Helsinki will be the first Super Cup in which the Uruguayan is the protagonist. He was in 2018, but he was a player who took it for granted that he was going to leave before the end of the summer market. He was 27 and did not count for Lopetegui. Eventually he stayed on the team to start the flight in which The little bird became falcon.
Valverde thinks about the Super Cup: ‘You play for Madrid to win titles’
17. Lucas Vzquez and his pass to Ramos
The big joker for Madrid coaches since Rafa Bentez put him in the wheel, was the one who put the ball at the far post in Trondheim for Ramos to win the final in extra time against Sevilla. It was August 9, 2016 and there were 15 seconds left. Lucas won two Super Cups and lost the Tallinn one.
18. Chuamni, to be released
The Norman midfielder doesn’t know what it’s like to win a club title. He won the last edition of the Nations League with France, but his record is yet to come out with his teams. He arrives in a team, Real Madrid, which is a guarantee that this void will soon disappear.
19. Ceballos has a job
His departure, which seemed clear, did not come. The competition is extreme, but in pre-season it sent good signs. He was in defeat at Tallinn in 2018 and entered the field to play pivot when Casemiro was injured. It didn’t go well.
20. In Helsinki by Vinicius
His goal in Paris is what pushes Real Madrid to play in the final of the Helsinki Olympics. Nothing remains of that kid who was in the 2018 final sitting on the bench with the label of being too green for the elite. Today Vinicius is a Madrid star and one of the most unbalanced players in the world.
21. Rodrygo adds another challenge
In La Liga it took him time to score a minute, in the Cup only five, in the Champions League he made a hat trick in his second match… He is now making his debut in the European Super Cup. He does not start as a regular in the eleven, but he will surely have minutes against Eintracht. He has already won the Champions League and the Spanish Super Cup twice with Madrid.
22- Rediger defends his title
The German is one of two new faces for Real Madrid this season. Of all those who are at the Helsinki Olympics, I will be the only one to put the title on the line. Because Rediger won last season against Villarreal in Belfast. He scored Chelsea’s sixth penalty, the one before Albiol’s error that handed the Stamford Bridge side the title.
Kepa was the hero of the penalty shootout, stopping Albiol’s final shot
23. Mendy, another nova
He’s Ancelotti’s left-back which opens up the rotation between the centre-backs more than expected. The Frenchman is part of the group of madridistas facing the European Super Cup for the first time. He is looking for his sixth title as a Real Madrid player.
24. Mariano is a case
He arrived in Madrid after the 2018 European Super Cup defeat to Atlético de Madrid. Four years later, it has become an unprecedented case in Madrid: never has a striker spent so much time at the club with such poor performances and goals (seven since). It doesn’t count for Ancelotti. He was in the squad for the 2016 Super Cup but didn’t make the roster.
25. Camavinga opens the door
A year ago he wasn’t a Madrid player and it looked like PSG was his destiny. He arrives in Helsinki after a pletric end to the season during which he showed that he is ready to tighten the screws on anyone from CMK. It will be their first European Super Cup after a debut season in which they started with Madrid with three titles.
Ancelotti aims for fifth
Carletto is already unique in the Champions League, having won it six times: twice as a Milan player and four as a manager (something no one had ever realized). In the capital of Finland, he is looking for his fifth continental super champion crown. As a player, he celebrated one with Milan, when the final was a home and away game (1990, against Sampdoria), but he missed the previous year’s against Barcelona; and has three as coach, two in key rossonera (2003, Porto, and against Sevilla in 2007) and 2014 with Real Madrid. The legend of the Italian coach has a new date, hand in hand with the club which means as much in his life as Milan