Real Madrid, the Champions League winners, and Eintracht Frankfurt, the Europa League champions, square off in the Uefa Super Cup, which has become a tradition to open the European football season.
In the one-off match, Madrid will try to win their fifth victory in Finland to tie Barcelona and AC Milan record-holders. Frankfurt is making its debut here.
The game is the last of Real Madrid’s preseason games before the start of the new La Liga season, and the Germans will be hoping for a win following a disappointing start to their new campaign.
Match Preview
Real Madrid
Real Madrid and four-time Champions League champion Ancelotti were allowed to enjoy the moment at home after winning both the domestic and European championships. Still, this weekend’s match against Almeria will mark the start of their La Liga title defence.
Real Madrid only played in three preseason friendlies last month, losing to Barcelona in one of them, which is seldom the case with El Clasico, drawing 2-2 with Club America and defeating Juventus with a score of 2-0.
As expected, the next two games saw Karim Benzema score as the 34-year-old looks to lead the Los Blancos charge in yet another European final. They won the Super Cup in 2002, 2014, 2016, and 2017 but lost to city rivals Atletico Madrid four years ago.
Real Madrid Pre-season form: L D W
Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt left teams like West Ham United, Real Betis, and even Barcelona in their wake on their journey to the 2022 Europa League final, where an enthusiastic Rangers team stood in their way.Ā
Last season, the Deutsche Bank Park was the site of some memorable European nights.
Frankfurt hadn’t tasted European glory since the 1979ā80 campaign, when they won the UEFA Cup, as it was then known, 42 years ago. Wednesday’s match will be their first in the UEFA Super Cup.
Oliver Glasner’s team has already begun their quest to surpass their Bundesliga standing of 11th from the previous campaign. Still, they were given a baptism of fire on Friday when they faced defending champions Bayern Munich, who blasted to a 6-1 victory at the Deutsche Bank Park.
Eintracht Frankfurt Form: W L
Carlo Ancelotti loves a Super Cup win ? The Real Madrid boss will become the outright most successful Manager in the Cup with another win.
ā³ UEFA Super Cup – Real Madrid v Eintracht Frankfurt LIVE Thursday from 4:35am AEST in 4K UHD, on Stan Sport.#StanSportAU | #SuperCup pic.twitter.com/Haio812kwe
— Stan Sport Football (@StanSportFC) August 9, 2022
Squad Report
Real Madrid
Ancelotti does not have any injury concerns as Real Madrid enters the Super Cup, but Reinier Jesus has missed training, expecting another loan move away from the club.
Antonio Rudiger and Aurelien Tchouameni must make their competitive debuts here, but it seems like an uphill battle for them to establish themselves as regular starters this year.Ā
Eintracht Frankfurt
For Frankfurt, defender Jerome Onguene has already been ruled out of the Super Cup due to a troubling thigh injury, and Aurelio Buta is recovering from knee surgery.
Glasner still has some important decisions to make in light of his team’s humbling loss to Bayern, even though the German team has no other players in the medical room, and Hrvoje Smolcic will also make a domestic comeback.
Real Madrid’s possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Mendy; Kroos, Casemiro, Modric; Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius Jr
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Toure, Ndicka, Tuta; Knauff, Sow, Rode, Lenz; Gotze, Kamada; Borre
Date, time & Venue
Date: Wednesday, August 10, 2022.
Time: 8 pm BST kick-offĀ
Venue: Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Finland
Head to Head
Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt have only ever faced off once, in the fifth-ever European Cup final in Glasgow’s Hampden Park, back in 1960.
Madrid prevailed 7-3 in a 10-goal thriller thanks to a hat-trick from Alfredo Di Stefano.
Prediction
Frankfurt received a hard reality check when Bayern scored six goals against them.Ā
Ancelotti is adhering to the adage “don’t fix what is not broken,” and this week should see another European championship added to the Bernabeu trophy cabinet thanks to a first-choice starting lineup and an abundance of good players on the bench.
