Paris Saint-Germain surrendered. Chelsea's valiant comeback was in vain. Rodrygo's full force was felt by Manchester City. Even when Real Madrid appeared to be out of the Champions League, serial winner Carlo Ancelotti had other plans.
The Road To Qualification
The final at the Stade de France will be forever outshined by the harrowing scenes outside the stadium in which fans were denied entry, tear-gassed by riot police, and targeted by opportunistic criminals, and celebrating Vinicius Junior's victory almost seemed inappropriate for some at the time.Nonetheless, Real Madrid and four-time Champions League winner Ancelotti were allowed to enjoy the moment after completing a domestic and European double, and their La Liga title defense will begin this weekend against Almeria.
Real Madrid only played three pre-season friendlies last month, losing to Barcelona in what was billed as a friendly - which it never is with El Clasico before drawing 2-2 with Club America and winning 2-0 against Juventus.
Karim Benzema was unsurprisingly on target in the latter two games as the 34-year-old aims to lead Los Blancos to yet another European final. Los Blancos won the Super Cup in 2002, 2014, 2016, and 2017, but were defeated by city rivals Atletico Madrid four years ago.
Last season, Eintracht Frankfurt left the likes of West Ham United, Real Betis, and even Barcelona in their wake en route to the 2022 Europa League final, where a bouncing Rangers outfit stood in their way.
After a tense 120 minutes of action, Gers loanee Aaron Ramsey would make headlines in Scotland for all the wrong reasons after seeing his spot kick saved by Kevin Trapp, as Frankfurt stayed perfect from 12 yards to secure the trophy.
Prior to the win over Rangers, Frankfurt had not tasted European success since the 1979-80 season, when they won the UEFA Cup 42 years ago, and Wednesday's game will be their first appearance in the UEFA Super Cup.
Oliver Glasner's side has already begun their quest to improve on their 11th-place finish in the Bundesliga last season, but they were given a baptism of fire on Friday when reigning champions Bayern Munich thrashed them 6-1 at the Deutsche Bank Park.
Frankfurt faces Real Madrid for the second time this week, looking to quickly dust themselves off after such a humiliating opening-day defeat, and if Wednesday's game is anything like Los Blancos' enthralling 7-3 win in the 1960 European Cup final, Scandinavian fans will certainly get their money's worth.
Real Madrid Vs Eintracht Frankfurt Team News
Carlo Ancelotti's Real Madrid head into the Super Cup with no injury concerns, though Reinier Jesus has been missing from training in preparation for another loan move away from the club.Ancelotti must decide whether to give Antonio Rudiger and Aurelien Tchouameni competitive debuts here, but the pair appear to be fighting an enormous challenge to become regular starters this season.
Rodrygo may be kept on the bench until needed, as he was last year, with Federico Valverde given the green light to join Benzema and Vinicius in the final third.
Glasner has already ruled defender Jerome Onguene out of the Super Cup, with the 24-year-old still out with a thigh problem, and Aurelio Buta is recovering from knee surgery.
The Germans have no other players in the treatment room - Hrvoje Smolcic will also return from a domestic suspension - but Glasner still has some important decisions to make following his team's humiliating loss to Bayern.
In that game, Jesper Lindstrom, Sebastian Rode, and Rafael Borre were all substituted at halftime, with the latter's replacement, Randal Kolo Muani, scoring his side's consolation after joining from Nantes.
Borre may still be preferred from the start in Helsinki, owing to his performance in the Europa League last season, in which he scored three goals in their final four games, including the equalizer in the final against Rangers.
Meanwhile, Filip Kostic appears to have played his final match for Frankfurt as he nears a move to Juventus, which means Christopher Lenz will start on the left side.
Expected Line Ups
Real Madrid
Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Mendy; Kroos, Casemiro, Modric; Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius Jr
Eintracht Frankfurt
Trapp; Toure, Ndicka, Tuta; Knauff, Sow, Rode, Lenz; Gotze, Kamada; Borre
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