Real Madrid has a history of winning a title in the final game of a season and another in the first game of the following season. They did it again this year, winning their sixth UEFA Super Cup two and a half months after winning the UEFA Champions League for the 15th time. Los Blancos are the first club to win the UEFA Super Cup six times. With one title secured already, Real Madrid is determined to achieve another treble.
The biggest highlight of this match is Kylian Mbappé's Real Madrid debut. The 25-year-old French striker signed with the club in June, two days after Real Madrid won the Champions League. He would officially be unveiled on July 16th. His debut saw Mbappé score his first goal for the club and win his first title with his new club.
The UEFA Super Cup is a unique concept, a match that features the current holders of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League titles—in other words, champion (Real Madrid) vs. champion (Atalanta). This match truly saw both respective clubs prove why they're the current title holders of the respective competitions. While the better team won, Atalanta's strong and courageous performance cannot be overlooked. Real Madrid accepted the challenge and overcame it brilliantly.
Though Atalanta had little to no chance of winning, their solid defensive efforts and strong attack attempts helped keep them in the game. Real Madrid's defensive resiliency thwarted any threats attempted by Atalanta. Real Madrid penetrated through Atalanta's midfield and defensive structure to spot their openings, which they capitalized on twice to win the game 2-0.
Atalanta would come close at least twice to get on the scoreboard, only to fail to finish. It wasn't until the 59th minute when Federico Valverde broke the deadlock by slipping through Atalanta's defense unnoticed with the goalie miles away and scoring with ease as the defenders closest to Valverde had no chance due to a lack of effort. Mbappé's goal came with an assist from Jude Bellingham, and the play was set when Vini Jr's first attempted pass to Mbappé went to Bellingham instead, during which Mbappé quickly reset himself into a position where Bellingham passed the ball, and Mbappé successfully made the shot. Resiliency wasn't only on defense, as far as Real Madrid goes.
Real Madrid will begin their La Liga campaign this Sunday against Mallorca. Atalanta will start their Serie A campaign next Monday and will be competing in this year's UEFA Champions League, which begins next month.
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