Now the real fun begins!
Cross-city rivals Real and Atletico Madrid go head-to-head in Tallinn, Estonia, for the right to be crowned UEFA Super Cup champions.
It’s a final that, on paper, has everything. Derby rivalry, World Cup winners up against each other, world class players in virtually all positions… pre-season or not, this match will be as competitive as any recent other between these two sides.
Coming as it does just a few days before the start of another La Liga campaign, it will also be interesting to see just how strong a starting XI both coaches will play.
Bale’s moment
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Gareth Bale has waited for a moment like this since the day he joined Real Madrid.
We saw what the Welshman was capable of in the Champions League final, and he’s already shown in pre-season that he’s enjoying life post-Ronaldo.
His outside-of-the-boot pass to Marco Asensio against Roma in the International Champions Cup was simply breathtaking.
Allowed to drift across the front line by new coach Julen Lopetegui, Bale has the pace, power and accuracy to cause Atleti problems from just about anywhere.
It’s his time.
The wall
If Los Blancos want to continue their astonishing recent record of trophies, then they’ll need to get past Jan Oblak aka ‘The Wall.’
The Slovenian goalkeeper recently turned down Chelsea’s advances in order to continue plying his trade at the Wanda Metropolitano, and as a last line of defence, he’s in a league of his own.
Multiple Zamora winner, even if Atleti’s opponents are able to get by Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez, it’s no easy task in getting the ball into the net.
With the nous to also turn defence into attack with one well-placed throw or pass, how well Oblak plays could have a direct bearing on where the trophy ends up.
Varane vs Griezmann
The one battle which will ultimately decide the match.
Raphael Varane is the silkiest of central defenders, a modern-day libero.
There’s a reason why, at 24 years old, he’s one of the most decorated players in the game and now he comes into direct combat with countryman, and fellow World Cup winner, Antoine Griezmann.
The striker has a real point to prove having led Barcelona a merry dance at the back end of last season, and with all eyes on him, does he have what it takes to lead from the front and take the rojiblancos to the title?
Diego Costa will plough a lone furrow against Spain captain and national team colleague, Sergio Ramos, and the spaces that he can create for Griezmann to run into should be a feature of Atleti’s play.
Can the mattress makers’ talisman finally come good on the big stage, as he routinely does in La Liga against Real?
Tantalising…
