One in six.
Real Madrid, winners of the Champions League in May, beat Eintracht Frankfurt (2-0) on Wednesday in Helsinki to lift the 5th UEFA Super Cup in their history, and start their exercise with a first title on the six up for grabs this season.
And as throughout the last Champions League campaign, it was the inevitable Karim Benzema who delivered Madrid in the 65th with a goal at the end of a daring cross from Vinicius in the box, after a first goal from David Alaba from the head, following a delivery from Casemiro on a corner (38th).
With the same eleven as the one lined up at the Stade de France in the Champions League final won against Liverpool on May 28, Carlo Ancelotti won his bet and became the first coach in history to accumulate four European Super Cups. .
“
If we have to win all the competitions, we will try
”, launched the Italian technician on Tuesday at a press conference, before the first official match of the season and at the dawn of this first coronation out of six possible in 2022-2023.
A trophy which is added to the 97 already present in the great wardrobe of Real, the most successful club in the world, in front of the 96 of Barça.
Benzema - Vinicius, it clicks again
And his lieutenant Karim Benzema also resumed at the same pace as the previous season.
The French center-forward, huge favorite for the Ballon d'Or on October 17, became thanks to his goal at the Olympic stadium in Helsinki on Wednesday the second top scorer in Real history, ahead of the legend's 323 goals Raúl.
This Supercup also allowed him to equal the 23 titles gleaned by the legend Paco Gento in the merengue jersey, and to lift his first trophy as official captain of the "
White House
".
His association with Vinicius, very active on the left side, once again sparked on Wednesday evening.
At the 17th, “
KB9
” let slip a ball transmitted by Valverde towards the Brazilian, whose recovery was countered by the dazzling return of Tuta.
And in the 37th, the shot from "
Vini
" grazed the right upright of Kevin Trapp.
The other big satisfaction on the Madrid side is precisely Federico Valverde: the Uruguayan, aligned on the right wing as in the C1 final, has evolved at a very high level, multiplying calls and overflows.
Carlo Ancelotti was even able to offer their first official minutes to Aurélien Tchouaméni and Antonio Rüdiger, the two rookies of the Madrid off-season.
The Frenchman entered in 85th in place of legend Toni Kroos, and the German at the same time in place of Dani Carvajal.
Eintracht, lead in the wing
But the people of Madrid, despite their apparent mastery, were however scared at the start: fifteen minutes into the game, Daichi Kamada, preferred to rookie Mario Götze in attack, was served deep, but stumbled against Thibaut Courtois, also very concentrated from the first minutes of the season.
Result: a clean copy for the reigning Spanish and European champion, who resumes his season as he ended it, winning.
For Eintracht, winners of the Europa League in May, this second consecutive defeat, after the heavy 6-1 defeat at the opening of the German championship on Friday against Bayern Munich, comes to weigh down the start of the season for Oliver Glasner's men, who was slow to bring in Randal Kolo-Muani (67th in place of Jesper Lindstrom), dangerous as soon as he appeared on the lawn.
Deprived of Filip Kostic, leaving for Juventus, the Eagles could not do much against this immutable Real.
From now on, La Liga awaits Carlo Ancelotti and his men: Real will start their domestic championship on Sunday (10:00 p.m.) with a trip to Almeria.
