Kylian Mbappe moved from PSG to Real Madrid on a free over the summer (Photo: Getty)
Kylian Mbappe’s Real Madrid career got off to the best possible start after a debut goal helped his new club beat Atalanta 2-0 to win the UEFA Super Cup.
Federico Valverde opened the scoring just before the hour on Wednesday night, before Mbappe fired in what will surely be the first of many goals for Los Blancos.
The Super Cup kicks-off the new European football season, pitting last campaign’s Champions League and Europa League victors against each other.
Real beat Borussia Dortmund at Wembley to claim a record-extending 15th UCL while Atalanta won their first ever European trophy by thrashing Bayer Leverkusen in what was the German champions’ only defeat of last season.
But this match was more hyped up than any other Super Cup in recent memory, as it marked the Real debut of Mbappe who completed his free transfer from PSG over the summer which had been highly-anticipated for years.
But it was Atalanta who started more brightly at the National Stadium in Warsaw, with ex-Chelsea star Davide Zappacosta enjoying himself down the right-flank.
It didn’t take long for the Spanish side to strut their stuff however, with Mbappe seeing a shot blocked before Vinicius Junior failed to connect with Dani Carvajal’s teasing cross.
Jude Bellingham was outstanding once again (Photo: Getty)
Jude Bellingham, in his first game since losing the Euro 2024 final with England, was controversially booked after colliding with goalkeeper Juan Musso, while the best chance of the first-half fell to Rodrygo who smacked the crossbar from close range.
Like the first, it was Atalanta who started the second-half the better team, with Mario Pasalic’s header requiring an outstanding save from Thibaut Courtois.
But the Italians soon found themselves overwhelmed, with Vinicius’ samba skill catching out several defenders and the keeper, allowing him to square the ball across the face of goal and hand Valverde the easiest tap-in of his career.
Atalanta couldn’t cope with Real’s star forwards (Photo: Getty)
Just minutes later Los Blancos had two chances to double their advantage only for Musso to brilliantly deny Vinicius and Bellingham.
There was little respite for Atalanta as soon after Vinicius won the ball off a defender before his cross found Bellingham, who teed up Mbappe to fire into the top corner from 12 yards out.
The trailing side remained spirited until the full-time whistle, with forgotten England defender Ben Godfrey, a summer signing from Everton, making a nuisance of himself, but ultimately they lacked the star quality and clinical edge of their opponents.
Vinicius, desperate for a goal, thought he had scored in the final minutes only for his deflected cross to inexplicably spin off the line and onto the post.
It mattered not in the end, with Real firing a pretty simple warning to any team looking to challenge their European crown this season.
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