With Euro 2024 glory followed by further triumphs at the European Under-19 Championship and the Olympics, it has been a sizzling summer of success for Spanish football.
The trophy run was kickstarted in June at club level by Real Madrid, who completed a league and European double by downing Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final at Wembley.
Prior to a new season featuring expanded formats for both the Champions League and Club World Cup, Real clearly remain the team to beat, both domestically and abroad.
And Wednesday’s Super Cup match with Atalanta is the first chance for Carlo Ancelotti’s men to not only claim another piece of Spanish summer silverware, but also show the world they could be about to get even better.
The transfer story of the summer was settled very early, with Real finally bringing their on-off-on-off pursuit of French superstar Kylian Mbappe to a successful conclusion.
Both club and player believe Mbappe has always been destined to play for Real Madrid, and his arrival gives Los Blancos arguably the three best attackers in the world alongside Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham.
The question is where the new man will fit in. Mbappe is not a genuine centre-forward, in the same way that Vinicius and Rodrygo are not genuine wingers, and a significant degree of positional flexibility will be required to ensure the star-studded forward line complement each other – rather than get in each other’s way.
Ancelotti, however, is the perfect coach to achieve this delicate balance, always preferring to adapt to the qualities of his players instead of laying down rigid tactical structures.
So we can expect to see plenty of interchange between Mbappe and Vinicius in particular, as they roam and combine between the left flank and penalty area.
Mbappe is not the only exciting addition to the forward line. This summer has also seen the long-awaited arrival of Brazilian boy wonder Endrick, who has already won 10 senior international caps despite only turning 18 last month.
Endrick will be eased gradually into action, and his arrival adds further squad depth heading into the longest club season in history, featuring two additional Champions League group-stage games and an overhauled Club World Cup – scheduled to end in mid-July.
Ancelotti has always been adept at sharing the playing time evenly, demonstrating more than most coaches that football is now truly a squad game rather than just a ‘starting XI’.
Only one player (Federico Valverde, 33 games) started more than 30 league games for Real last season, and that rotation policy will be further strengthened in the gruelling coming campaign.
So, can Vinicius Jr and Mbappe be accommodated within the same squad? Ancelotti should be able to answer that luxurious question without too many problems.
Source: BBC Sports
