The first big European clash of the football season will take place on Tuesday as Champions League winners Real Madrid take on Europa League winners Manchester United in the UEFA Super Cup at the Philip II Arena in Skopje. The two teams have met in a friendly match this summer, it ended 1-1 after 90 minutes and then Manchester United won the penalty shoot-out. The last competitive meeting between the two sides was in 2013 in the Champions League and Real Madrid won 2-1 at Old Trafford after a 1-1 draw in the Spanish capital.
Real Madrid have won the UEFA Super Cup on each of their three previous attempts, beating Feyenoord in 2002 and Sevilla in 2014 and 2016. They have played just four official friendly matches this summer and lost two of them, against Barcelona and Manchester City, but those results have little value now. Cristiano Ronaldo is included in the squad but he has not played for Real Madrid since the Champions League final in June. Gareth Bale picked up a slight injury in training but he should be ready to play on Tuesday.
Manchester United have played for the UEFA Super Cup three times, but have not won it since 1991, when they beat Red Star Belgrade for the trophy. In 1999 the Red Devils were defeated by Lazio in this competition, while in 2008 they lost to Zenit St Petersburg. Jose Mourinho's men have lost just one of their seven friendly matches this summer, 1-0 against Barcelona. Phil Jones and Eric Bailly are suspended for this match while Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo and Ashley Young are injured and will remain sidelined for some time.
Probable line-ups:
Real Madrid: Navas - Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo - Modric, Casemiro, Kroos - Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo
Man United: De Gea - Lindelof, Smalling, Blind - Valencia, Herrera, Matic, Pogba, Darmian - Rashford, Lukaku
My prediction: 1-1 after 90 minutes.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Real Madrid win - 2.00
Draw - 3.75
Man United win - 3.80
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Comments (1)
sharpe
08/17/17, 08:08:01 PM
I'm one of those old school guys who don't believe there is a cup that can be won in just one game and these cups are really just a number in the statistics than...
I'm one of those old school guys who don't believe there is a cup that can be won in just one game and these cups are really just a number in the statistics than anything other really. Congrats to Real M - another cup for them, but that's not really a genuine one if you ask me nor that of domestic super cup, these are just media highlights without real weight in the achievement.
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