Will anyone stop them? - Armenian Soccer

Real Madrid won the UEFA Super Cup by defeating Atalanta Bergamo 2-0 in Warsaw. However, something else was more important than this victory.

The UEFA Super Cup looks inconspicuous, because it is only 58 cm high, but weighs a whopping 12.2 kilograms. It is theoretically the most valuable club football trophy on the continent, fought for at the beginning of the season by the winners of the two most important competitions — the Champions League and the Europa League. The first winner, Ajax Amsterdam, was chosen in 1973. Until 1997 the formula of two-legged tie was used (with three exceptions) with home and away games at the stadiums of the clubs participating in the competition. In the years 1998-2012 was only one final game at the Stade Louis II in Monaco.

Then, UEFA began to assign the organization of the Super Cup to various federations, to make them feel more important, including those on the margins of big football. That is why, for example, in 2018, two clubs from Madrid, Real and Atletico, competed for the trophy in Tallinn at a stadium with a capacity of less than fifteen thousand seats. However, there is no larger stadium in Estonia, and local fans will certainly not see a match of such importance with so many stars again anytime soon.

Thanks to the rotational allocation of the host, the Super Cup came to Warsaw this year. This is another match of such importance in the Polish capital after the Europa League final in 2015, in which the Spanish Sevilla defeated the Ukrainian Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 3:2.

After nine years Real defeated the Italian Atalanta 2:0 in Warsaw. The result seems obvious, just as it seemed after the first quarter, because the winners of the Champions League quickly dominated the winners of the Europa League. After the second, not necessarily, because the game evened out, but there were almost no clear goal-scoring opportunities. It is true that the ball hit the post and crossbar once, when Éder Militão tried to kick out a ball after Atalanta’s Marten de Roon cross, but there was no chance of it going into a net. The situation looked much more dangerous in the added time of the first half, which could have ended with a goal for Real, when Rodrygo hit the crossbar finishing a pass from Vinícius Júnior.
Spanish team could only lose control of the match once, when Mario Pašalić headed the ball just after the break, but Thibaut Courtois showed a magnificent save. Atalanta does not have the potential to waste good opportunities in a match with a theoretically much stronger opponent, because it is known that they will not create too many of them and it was quickly confirmed. After an hour of play, Jude Bellingham and Vinícius Júnior’s created a scoring opportunity which was effectively finished by Federico Valverde. He found himself alone in front of an empty goal and finished the situation, because his two teammates had previously perfectly smashed the opponents.

It was a breakthrough moment, because after taking the lead, Real began to play more freely. Despite Atalanta tried to continue attacking, they did not pose a real threat. And then came the moment that most of the spectators at the stadium had been waiting for…

The match was played at the sold-out stadium (56,042), because the interest in it was huge. The Polish capital welcomed the fans of both teams with beautiful and warm weather. For two days the sky was cloudless, so they could not only to go sightseeing the city, but also take part in various attractions prepared for them in the traditionally organized UEFA Fan Festival.

During the match, it was easy to understand who supported whom in the stands by the colors of the shirts worn by the fans. There were maybe fifteen percent of those in Atalanta blue, occupying the lower part of the stand behind one goal. The rest in white were waiting for Real’s triumph. Waiting is an appropriate description, because they decided to cheer only from time to time. Vinicius, irritated by this, even showed them with an eloquent gesture just after the break to finally get down to it.

Atalanta fans didn’t need any motivation. They are real ones, not just only match spectators. For me, they were the silent heroes of the match in Warsaw. Although they were in the minority, they were still wonderfully supported their team, and they didn’t stop after the goals conceded! Just like in life — you can’t have everything. Whoever has the best team doesn’t necessarily have the best fans. In the stands, Atalanta fans outclassed those from Real.

On the pitch, it was the other way around, although of course there was no outclassing. However, the spectators in white shirts waited for their dream moment. When the players came out for the warm-up, Kylian Mbappé was shown for a long time on four large screens hanging above the pitch. He had been attracting so much attention for several days that those less familiar with football realities might have assumed that the Super Cup match had been organised mainly for him to make his official debut for the Spanish club after joining them from Paris Saint-Germain.
And the game perfectly fit into this scenario less than twenty minutes before the end, when Mbappé scored the second goal for Real after a pass from Bellingham. He was beaming with happiness after it, because he couldn’t have dreamed of a better debut. And finally, he really brought to life the stands that were mostly cheering him on.

In this way, Real confirmed its ever-growing dominance in Europe by breaking several records related to the Super Cup. Spanish club won it for the sixth time, becoming the sole leader (AC Milan and Barcelona have five triumphs each). Dani Carvajal and Luka Modrić have won it five times each, leading the list of the most decorated players, and with five as well Carlo Ancelotti is the best among coaches.

At an official press conference the day before the match, Ancelotti admitted that he has a real team of stars, but because of that that this places a huge responsibility on him. Of course, responsibility for the result, meaning the expectation of only victories. Can he and his team withstand this ever-increasing pressure? And in the upcoming season, will anyone be able to stop Real in La Liga and Europe?