French World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe, a new recruit at Real Madrid, gave a glimpse of his potential golden boot-chasing season in La Liga as he scored once in the Carlo Ancelotti-managed side’s 2-0 victory over Atalanta at the National Stadium in Warsaw in the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday.
Federico Valverde (59′) and Mbappe (68′) netted one goal each to guide the Los Blancos’ to their sixth UEFA Super Cup triumph, following the victories in 2002, 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2022.
A through ball from Charles De Ketalae to find Davide Zappacosta on the right flank who glided forward only to be denied by Thibaut Courtois and a chance for Kylian Mbappe from close range that was denied by the Atalanta defense were the first real chances on either side of the halves inside the 30 minute-mark.
Vinicius Jr. produced a delicious lob for Jude Bellingham as the English midfielder chested it down but collided with the charging Atalanta goalkeeper Juan Musso. It started as a cagey battle between the two sides as Atlanta looked to break free occasionally with their through balls which was well taken care of by the Real Madrid defense.
Close action followed at the brink of half-time with Atalanta BC’s Ademola Lookman finding space on the left flank and steaming forward to switch flank and find Zappacosta on the right. The Italian full-back delivered the ball inside the box which was chested down, finding Lookman at the edge of the box with the Nigerian pulling the trigger only to be denied by the Real Madrid defense.
Minutes later, some sloppy defense from Atalanta saw Vinicius Jr. locating Rodrygo inside the box but the Brazilian forward missed out on a clear chance.
Both sides failed to break the deadlock at half-time.
The second half started much like the first 45 minutes with chances being created on both ends. Soon after Bellingham found Mbappe in space on the left flank, the Frenchman went motoring forward but launched the ball way wide off the post. Meanwhile, Atalanta were able to test Courtois in the post with Mario Pasalic heading the ball towards the far corner from a ball chipped into the box.
Valverde broke the deadlock in the 59th minute from an assist off Vinicius Jr. who trickled down the left flank to cut past the Atalanta defense to let the Uruguayan tap in for the goal.
Real Madrid continued to attack after the opener with Vinicius Jr. going one-on-one with Atalanta goalkeeper and Bellingham being denied a couple of opportunities.
Mbappe doubled the lead in the 68th minute by slotting one into the back of the post off a pass from Bellingham on the left flank. The chance was created by Rodrygo who snicked the ball off the Atalanta defender on the right flank and passed it inside the box to find his English teammate.
Atalanta looked more determined to cut short the deficit around the 85th minute mark as they maintained their shape with Lookman and Matteo Ruggeri linking up on the left flank but failing to penetrate through the Real Madrid defence.
