The Spanish giant, Real Madrid, wants to start his official career in the new season, as he ended it last May when he was crowned European champion, during his confrontation with his opponent, Eintracht Frankfurt, in the European Super Cup match at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki on Wednesday.
Real Madrid were not a strong candidate for the continental title last season, but they reversed their failure in the playoffs against Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City, before defeating another English team, Liverpool, in the final with a clean goal.
The royal team strengthened its record in the European Champions League, raising it to 14 titles, while its Italian coach, Carlo Ancelotti, held the record as the coach with the most titles in the most important continental competition with four.
“We feel that no one should take our place and this is a great incentive for us to continue winning,” Ancelotti said in statements to the UEFA website.
And Ancelotti, who returned to supervise the capital club for the second time early last season, succeeded in leading his team to win the Spanish League title for the thirty-fifth time in its history.
The Italian coach confirmed that he had great respect for his German rival, saying, “Eintracht Frankfurt achieved something special last season by winning the European League, especially since he was not a candidate.”
He added, “The team played great matches and managed to defeat Barcelona in their own backyard by adopting a wonderful attacking style of play. It is a team that will create problems for us without any doubt.”
The match will be the first official confrontation between the two teams since their famous meeting in the Champions League final in 1960 at Hampden Park in Glasgow, which ended with an exhibition victory for Real 7-3 to win its fifth consecutive continental title. In that match, Real Hungarian stars Ferenc Puskas and Spain-Argentinian Alfredo Di Stefano scored 4 and 3 goals, respectively.
Former Celtic star Jimmy Johnston described it as “a fantastic match in heaven. I’ve never seen anything like it and don’t think I’ll see it later”.
Real Madrid is playing the Super Cup for the eighth time in its history and has previously won it four times, knowing that Ancelotti has not lost any time in it, so he was crowned at the head of the technical staff of Milan in 2003 and 2007 and with Real Madrid in 2014.
And Anceloni considered that his team does not have the advantage, especially in terms of physical readiness, saying, “We have a less advantage against Frankfurt, who started his season before us, but we will play to win.”
Frankfurt officially started two weeks ago, by participating in the first round of the German Cup, before playing its first match in the “Bundesliga”, where it fell in front of the champion of the past ten seasons, Bayern Munich 1-6. On the other hand, the Spanish League starts last weekend, where Real Madrid has so far only played test matches.
Frankfurt had won their first continental title in 42 years when they beat Scottish Rangers on penalties in the Europa League final.
Respect but no fear
Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp said that his team respects Real Madrid’s history, but is not afraid to face it. “We want to be a tough team that struggles and does not give up. Of course, we have great respect for the opponent, but we play the confrontation without fear.”
Trapp, one of the few who has experience in Frankfurt, along with newcomer from Eindhoven, Mario Goetze, who scored the only goal for his country in the World Cup final in Brazil against Argentina in 2014, added, “Playing the European Super Cup is the fruits of our success last season. What’s the matter with Real Madrid, we can’t ask for more than that at this time of the season.”
As for the team’s coach, Oliver Glasner, said, “We are looking forward to facing Real Madrid. It is one of the greatest teams in football history. We will prepare in the best possible way to boost our chances of winning.”