The European champions, Real Madrid, could be without Gareth Bale
and the Portuguese defender Pepe when they meet their city rivals and
domestic champions Atlético Madrid in Tuesday’s first leg of the Spanish
Super Cup.
Both players were unable to train on Friday when they nursed injuries before Real’s final friendly against Fiorentina in Warsaw on Saturday, a game they were treating as a key warm-up for their reunion with Atlético.
The coach, Carlo Ancelotti, rotating his squad before meeting Atlético again for the first time since they beat them 4-1 in the all-Spanish Champions League final in Lisbon in May, made nine changes to the team that started Tuesday’s Uefa Super Cup final against Sevilla in Cardiff, which Madrid won 2-0.
Only Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored both goals, and newly-arrived Colombia playmaker James Rodríguez were retained as Madrid finalised their preparations. Ronaldo scored an early goal but Real lost 2-1 to the Italian side.
Bale, whose solo winning goal in the King’s Cup final against Barcelona in April secured Real’s place in the Super Cup, trained on his own while Pepe did only some light stretching. Both, however, were on the bench in Warsaw. French defender Raphael Varane is likely to replace Pepe while Spanish midfielder Isco is tipped to step in for Bale.
The return leg is at the Vicente Calderón stadium on Friday, three days before the Spanish champions start the defence of their La Liga title at Rayo Vallecano. Real open their league campaign the same evening against Cordoba.
Ronaldo issued a warning to Atlético and all their rivals after Real’s win in Cardiff that the European champions are aiming for a clean sweep of all six trophies available to them – including the Spanish Super Cup and their local rivals’ La Liga crown.
“We are going to try to win all the trophies,” he said. “It’s good to win this trophy [the European Super Cup] to give confidence to the team and let’s see next week against Atlético what we are going to do.“
Both players were unable to train on Friday when they nursed injuries before Real’s final friendly against Fiorentina in Warsaw on Saturday, a game they were treating as a key warm-up for their reunion with Atlético.
The coach, Carlo Ancelotti, rotating his squad before meeting Atlético again for the first time since they beat them 4-1 in the all-Spanish Champions League final in Lisbon in May, made nine changes to the team that started Tuesday’s Uefa Super Cup final against Sevilla in Cardiff, which Madrid won 2-0.
Only Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored both goals, and newly-arrived Colombia playmaker James Rodríguez were retained as Madrid finalised their preparations. Ronaldo scored an early goal but Real lost 2-1 to the Italian side.
Bale, whose solo winning goal in the King’s Cup final against Barcelona in April secured Real’s place in the Super Cup, trained on his own while Pepe did only some light stretching. Both, however, were on the bench in Warsaw. French defender Raphael Varane is likely to replace Pepe while Spanish midfielder Isco is tipped to step in for Bale.
The return leg is at the Vicente Calderón stadium on Friday, three days before the Spanish champions start the defence of their La Liga title at Rayo Vallecano. Real open their league campaign the same evening against Cordoba.
Ronaldo issued a warning to Atlético and all their rivals after Real’s win in Cardiff that the European champions are aiming for a clean sweep of all six trophies available to them – including the Spanish Super Cup and their local rivals’ La Liga crown.
“We are going to try to win all the trophies,” he said. “It’s good to win this trophy [the European Super Cup] to give confidence to the team and let’s see next week against Atlético what we are going to do.“
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