Real Madrid’s triumph in the European Super Cup in Warsaw left a trail of general happiness in the team, which also had an element of relief in Kylian Mbappé: “It was a great night. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time: to play with this shirt, with this badge, for these fans. It’s a great moment for me,” he summed up at the end of his debut as a Real Madrid player. A perfect evening for the Frenchman: “And we won a title, which is important. At Madrid you always have to win. I’m very happy. And with the goal too. It’s important for a striker like me. But the most important thing is the pleasure of playing with this team. I was really looking forward to it. It’s a great day.”
2
Courtois, Dani Carvajal (Lucas Vázquez, min. 88), Rüdiger, Ferland Mendy, Eder Militao, Aurelien Tchouameni, Federico Valverde, Jude Bellingham (Dani Ceballos, min. 88), Kylian Mbappe (Brahim Diaz, min. 82), Vinicius Junior (Arda Guler, min. 88) and Rodrygo (Modric, min. 76)
0
Juan Musso, Djimsiti, Kolasinac (Mitchel Bakker, min. 70), Isak Hien, Zappacosta (Ben Godfrey, min. 62), Éderson Silv, Marten de Roon, Matteo Ruggeri, Pasalic (Alberto Manzoni, min. 89), Ademola Lookman and Charles De Ketelaere (Mateo Retegui, min. 62)
Goals 1-0 min. 59: Federico Valverde. 2-0 min. 68: Kylian Mbappe.
Referee Sandro Schärer
Yellow cards Éderson Silv (min. 9), Jude Bellingham (min. 34), Vinicius Junior (min. 42) and Djimsiti (min. 64)
Madrid were also very keen on him. For years. “Another one has arrived,” said Rodrygo. “One of the best in the world is with us now too.” The Brazilian already glimpsed in this first match what they can do together on the pitch: “The same as he did with Vini and Jude.” The Frenchman has joined a squad with a tremendous ability to dismantle opponents. And in Madrid’s second goal he hinted at what they can do together. Rodrygo sent Vinicius into space in the area, the number 7 found Bellingham on the other side, who served Mbappé his first goal as a Real Madrid player. The connection was starting to work. “Kylian was destined to score tonight,” said the Englishman, who was chosen as the MVP of the final. He was delighted with Mbappé: “He’s incredible. Before I thought it was incredible, but now that I have the opportunity to see him up close… The details, the speed, the quality, how hard he works, how he communicates. He’s a leader on the pitch. People have been talking about him coming for a long time and now it seems like he has been here for much longer.”
“He has enormous quality,” said Carlo Ancelotti. “He has worked well, he has combined, he has worked defensively like the others.” The Italian coach was satisfied with the Frenchman’s debut. From what he has seen and from what he knows he can contribute: “He has the quality to score a lot of goals.” The Frenchman was asked at the end about a possible number. 50? “We are Real Madrid. We have no limit. If it is 50, then 50. The most important thing is to win and improve as a team. That is how we are going to win.”
Fede Valverde, who opened the scoring from a Vinicius assist, also celebrated the Frenchman’s goal, and pointed to more: “He deserves it. I hope we can enjoy it a lot.” Ancelotti is thinking about that, and also about finding a way to ensure that the new offensive power does not have other less desirable effects on the team’s performance: “We have to find the balance of the team.” That is the idea he has insisted on the most: the search for balance.
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