- Real Madrid have already won the Super Cup five times
- Atalanta won their first European trophy last season.
- La Dea were the only side to inflict defeat on Bayer Leverkusen

Having won the Super Cup on five occasions, including as recently as 2022, Real Madrid will be hoping to surpass the achievements of Barcelona and AC Milan with their sixth success at Atalanta’s expense at Stadion Narodowy in Warsaw.

Late goals from Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Jr inspired Real to a Champions League final success over Borussia Dortmund last season, which was their 15th in total and the fifth time that they had won it under the leadership of Carlo Ancelotti.

Atalanta, meanwhile, secured their first European ever trophy in the Europa League and there was nothing lucky about their achievements.

Not only did the Serie A side outclass Liverpool in the quarter-finals, winning 3-0 at Anfield, but they also inflicted a first and only defeat of the whole campaign on Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen in the final, cruising to another 3-0 victory.

Real will be expected to stamp their authority, but La Dea are a growing force and that makes for an intriguing Super Cup clash between two attack-minded sides.

Team news

French superstar Kylian Mbappe is in line to make his Real Madrid debut, having been given a rest following his efforts at Euro 2024.

Mbappe could help form a formidable front three alongside Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr, while Jude Bellingham may start despite missing much of pre-season.

Nacho and Toni Kroos have left Real since the Champions League final, but Eder Militao and Aurelien Tchouameni are expected to replace that pair in the Super Cup starting line-up.

Charles De Ketelaere’s move to Atalanta has been made permanent and he is expected to feature, while new arrivals Ben Godfrey and Nicolo Zaniolo should play some part.

Striker Gianluca Scamacca is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines, however, while Teun Koopmeiners is an absentee as he is linked with a move to Juventus.

The stats

Real are five-time Super Cup winners, having lifted the trophy in 2002, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2022, while they are also three-time runners-up.

Los Blancos are unbeaten in 26 competitive matches, with their last defeat coming in a 4-2 reverse against rivals Atletico Madrid after extra-time in the Copa del Rey in January.

Real were crowned champions of LaLiga for the 36th time, while Atalanta finished fourth in Serie A last term.

However, Atalanta claimed the first European trophy in their history in the Europa League last season and they have lost only two of their last 12 competitive matches.

This is a third competitive meeting between these sides, with Real having recorded a home-away double over Atalanta in the Champions League in 2021.

Both teams have scored in five of Real’s eight Super Cup appearances.

Prediction

The addition of Mbappe has only bolstered what was already one of Europe’s most-feared frontlines and, with the Frenchman surely keen to impress on his full Real debut, Atalanta may be up against it.

Their summer business has been steady rather than sublime and it is difficult to see them being much stronger than last season, suggesting there would be a big gulf between them and Real at their best.

Being this early in a campaign levels up the playing field somewhat and gives the Italian side some hope of keeping matters competitive.

But Real have superior strength in depth and the star quality to unlock this Italian defence, with Ancelotti surely hoping his team can record a comfortable enough victory such as last season’s 2-0 Super Cup success over Eintracht Frankfurt

Score Prediction: Real Madrid 2-0 Atalanta.