Real Madrid to meet Atalanta in UEFA Super Cup

Spanish LaLiga powerhouse Real Madrid will meet Italian Serie A side Atalanta in the 2024 UEFA Super Cup final Wednesday.

Real Madrid won their 15th UEFA Champions League trophy by beating German team Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in the final in June.

"It's going to be tough as always because it's the beginning of the season. But we are going there with every confidence and conviction, while bearing in mind all the challenges," said Real Madrid's veteran manager Carlo Ancelotti.

"Atalanta deserve to be there because they played an amazing Europa League campaign, knocking out top teams like Liverpool. They were able to win those kinds of games easily, even the final. We respect this team a lot, but we hope to be at our best," he added.

Ancelotti may become the only manager to clinch five Super Cup trophies if Los Blancos bag this season's trophy.

New signing French star Kylian Mbappe is set to make his first competitive appearance for Los Blancos, which aim to become the first team to bag sixth Super Cup trophy, passing Barcelona and AC Milan.

Atalanta, on the other hand, shocked German Bundesliga's undefeated champions of the 2023-24 season, Bayer Leverkusen, in the UEFA Europa League final with 3-0 in May.

"Madrid are a fantastic team, but we are happy to be the underdogs. It was the same against Leverkusen, so perhaps that's a good role for us," said Atalanta captain Marten de Roon.

The UEFA Super Cup is an annual football match contested between the winners of two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.