Kylian Mbappe has been named in the Real Madrid starting XI for the European curtain-raiser against Atalanta in the UEFA Super Cup.
Mbappe officially joined Madrid in July, ending years of pursuit by the Spanish giant, but was granted time off following his outings for France during Euro 2024, breaking his nose at the tournament.
The former Paris Saint-Germain superstar therefore played no part in pre-season for his new club and so the Super Cup in Warsaw is both his competitive debut and his first appearance in a Real Madrid shirt of any kind – except, of course, his Taylor Swift-style unveiling at the Bernabeu.
Mbappe looks set to lead the line in attack, flanked by Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo in a more typical 4-3-3 system after Carlo Ancelotti favoured a narrower 4-3-1-2 formation last season.
Jude Bellingham is likely to drop deeper into the midfield three, with Aurelien Tchouameni the shielding linchpin and Federico Valverde at No.8, ironically also now wearing the eight shirt.
For this game at least, Ancelotti was tipped to stay loyal to the players who started the Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund.
Eder Militao was always going to replace former captain Nacho Fernandez, who has since left the club, while there was talk of Luka Modric getting the nod as a result of Toni Kroos’ retirement over the summer. But Tchouameni has made the cut over the veteran Croatian. The boss will have also had to consider a late switch due to Eduardo Camavinga’s knee injury suffered in training on Tuesday.
It’s possible that 18-year-old Endrick could also make his Madrid debut before the night is out. The teen prodigy, who finally made the switch to Spain following his birthday last month, starts the Super Cup on the bench. He endured a difficult Copa America during the summer.
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