This week’s European Super Cup clash is a first for the tournament as it will be the first time 
ever that the game will be contested by two teams from the same city. That’s because last season’s Champions League winners Real Madrid will face off against the Europa League winners, city rivals Atletico Madrid.
Of course, the two teams are no strangers to each other in European competition. They have met 10 times previously in European competition in the past, including two Champions League finals, and it is Real who have come out on top most often, winning five games, with three draws and Atletico winning just the two times (both in two-legged ties, which saw Real ultimately win the tie).
However both teams face each other at the start of a season which will be very different for them for several reasons. For Real Madrid, the difference will be most acute with their key talisman striker Cristiano Ronaldo now having left the club to join Juventus. Atletico also saw one of their star men, Fernando Torres leave to sign for a Chinese club, while veteran midfielder Gabi also left.
Both teams have signed new faces for the start of the season with Real’s most high-profile signings being the young Brazilian Vinicius Junior and ex-Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. Atlletico though have also been busy signing PSV Eindhoven right back Arias as well as the AS Monaco midfielder Thomas Lemar in an €80m deal.
While there will be new faces on show for both teams, the core of the teams that took both sides to success in Europe last season remain in place, most notably in defence for Atletico Madrid where the triumvirate of Godin, Giminez and Oblak remain firmly in place with Saul Niguez and Koke ahead of them in midfield in what is arguably the best defensive unit in world football at the moment.
For Real Madrid, Ramos and Varane remain in what is likely to be a largely unchanged defence and the same can be said in midfield where Kroos, Modric and Casemiro will likely be the key starters for the majority of the season, barring injury or suspension.
Before we take a look at both team’s squads in more detail, let’s preview the final itself.
2018 UEFA Super Cup
- Date: Wednesday 15th August 2018
- Kick Off: 9pm EST (8pm UK)
- Venue: Le Coq Arena, Talllinn (Estonia)
- Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)
Super Cup Factfile
- Real have competed in six Super Cup finals, winning four and losing two.
- Atletico have competed in two Super Cup finals, winning both.
- Spanish teams have won eight of the last nine Super Cup Finals and will make it nine wins from ten years following this week’s game.
- Four of the last five finals have featured both teams from the Spanish League.
- Barcelona and AC Milan have won the most Super Cup Finals with five apiece.
- Spanish teams have won the final on 14 occasions, ahead of Italy on 9 and England on 7.
- The Super Cup was first contested, unofficially in 1972 when Ajax beat Glasgow Rangers. The first Official Super Cup was in 1973, when Ajax once again won the tie defearing AC Milan 6-1 over two legs.
- Originally the Super Cup was played between the winners of the European Cup (now the Champions League) and the Cup Winners Cup. That changed to the UEFA Cup (now Europa League) when UEFA disbanded the Cup Winners Cup in 1999.
- The Super Cup was also played over two legs until 1997. This was replaced with a one-off match in 1998 at the Stade Louis II stadium in Monaco. The final was held in Monaco from 1998 until 2012.
- Since 2012 the final has been played at various venues across Europe including Prague, Cardiff, Tblisi, Trondheim, Skopje and this year in Tallinn. Next year’s final will take place in Istanbul.
Team Previews
Real Madrid
Manager – Julen Lopetegui
Transfers In (from 2017-18) – Vinicius Junior (Flamengo), Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea), Alvaro Odriozola (Real Sociedad), Andriy Lunin (Zorya Luhansk),
Transfers Out (from 2017-18) – Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Omar Mascarell (Schalke 04), Lucas Torro (Eintracht Frankfurt), Philipp Lienhart (SC Freiburg), Theo Hernandez (Real Sociedad – Loan), Mateo Kovacic (Chelsea – Loan), Achraf Hakimi (Dortmund – Loan)
Squad
Goalkeepers
- Thibaut Courtois
- Keylor Navas
- Andriy Lunin
- Kiko Casilla
Defenders
- Raphael Varane
- Sergio Ramos (Captain)
- Nacho Fernandez
- Jesus Vallejo
- Dani Carvajal
- Fabio Coentrao
- Alvaro Odriozola
- Marcelo
Midfielders
- Casemiro
- Marcos Llorente
- Toni Kroos
- Luka Modric
- Dani Ceballos
- Isco
- Federico Valverde
Attackers
- Marco Asensio
- Vinicius Junior
- Gareth Bale
- Lucas Vasquez
- Karim Benzema
- Borja Mayoral
Probable Real Madrid Starting XI – (4-3-3) – Courtois, Carvajal, Marcelo, Ramos, Varane, Casemiro, Kroos, Modric, Isco, Bale, Asensio
Atletico Madrid
Manager – Diego Simeone
Transfers In (from 2017-18) – Thomas Lemar (Monaco), Rodri (Villarreal), Nikola Kalinic (Milan), Santiago Arias (PSV), Jonny Castro (Celta Vigo), Antonio Adan (Real Betis), Gelson Martins (Sporting Lisbon)
Transfers Out (from 2017-18) – Kevin Gameiro (Valencia), Diogo Jota (Wolves), Pierre Kunde (Mainz), Sime Vrsaljko (Inter – Loan), Gabi (Al Sadd), Fernando Torres (Sagan Tosu), Jonny Castro (Wolves – Loan), Luciano Vietto (Fulham- Loan), Bernard Mensah (Kayserispor – Loan)
Squad
Goalkeepers
- Antonio Adan
- Jan Oblak
Defenders
- Diego Godin (Captain)
- Filipe Luis
- Santiago Arias
- Stefan Savic
- Juanfran
- Lucas Hernandez
- Jose Giminez
Midfielders
- Thomas Partey
- Koke
- Saul Niguez
- Thomas Lemar
- Rodri
- Vitolo
Attackers
- Antoine Griezmann
- Nikola Kalinic
- Angel Correa
- Gelson Martins
- Diego Costa
Probable Atletico Madrid XI –  (4-3-3)  – Oblak, Arias, Luis, Godin, Giminez, Koke, Niguez, Lemar, Griezmann, Correa, Costa
UEFA Super Cup – bet365 betting odds and tips
Full Time Result
- Our Tip – Atletico Madrid to win (2/1)
Atletico may have a poor record against Real in Europe, but I think this is a great chance for them to redress the balance a bit here. Real should be solid defensively but I think their attack is untested and will struggle against Atletico to find the net. As such, I think a single goal from Atletico could well be enough to win this game.
Correct Score
- Our Tip – Atletico Madrid 1-0 Real Madrid (15/2)
Atletico’s defensive ability make them so hard to score against and with Real Madrid likely to field a largely untried and untested forward line, I think they may well struggle to break down Atletico’s vastly experienced back line. As such, I think a 1-0 win for Atletico is the most likely outcome and that is a 15/2 shot with bet365 at the time of writing.
Result Both Teams to Score
- Our Tip – Atletico to win – both teams to score No – 15/4
Based on the predicted outcomes of the first two bets, you can also back Atletico to win but both teams not to score which is a 15/4 shot with bet365 at the time of writing.
*All odds shown provided by bet365 Sport and correct as of 16.00 UK Time on Mon 13th August.
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