Real Madrid 2-1 Manchester United: Casemiro and Isco strikes win Super Cup but Romelu Lukaku's first competive Red Devils goal makes it interesting

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This is what Jose Mourinho means when he talks about the difference between the Champions League and the Europa League. The difference between the best club on the continent and teams aspiring to play at that level. The difference, right now, between Real Madrid and Manchester United.

Mourinho’s old club deservedly became the first to win back-to-back UEFA Super Cups in 27 years on a sweltering night in Skopje, just as they have successfully defended the European Cup under Zinedine Zidane.

The Real coach called his bluff by playing Gareth Bale 24 hours after Mourinho had suggested bidding for the Wales star if he was left out of the line-up, and Zidane won just about every other battle on the night as well.

Marcelo kisses the Super Cup trophy after Real Madrid beat Manchester United 2-1 in the curtain-raiser in Skopje

Casemiro celebrates after putting Real Madrid ahead against Manchester United in the Super Cup at Philip II Arena

Sergio Ramos leaps on his Brazilian colleague after the midfielder's well taken finish put the Spanish side in the ascendancy

Isco bends the ball past United keeper David de Gea as Real took a two-goal lead in the Super Cup during the second half

The diminutive midfielder takes the acclaim from the crowd in Skopje after his goal in the second half of the contest

Romelu Lukaku is fired up after pulling United back into the game with his goal on the hour mark in the Super Cup

Ultimately it was not to be for United as Real held out under pressure to see out the game and win the Super Cup

Bale did not look like a player out of sorts in Spain and set up Madrid’s decisive second goal before hitting the bar himself. Casemiro also struck the woodwork for a Madrid side who were decidedly better than the scoreline suggests.

Replacing Cristiano Ronaldo, a late substitute, with Bale was the only change from the side that beat Juventus in the Champions League final in May, and they played like European champions here.

United, on the other hand, look some way short of that level despite spending £136million on new signings this summer.

Nemanja Matic had an impressive competitive debut, but Victor Lindelof struggled again in defence and Romelu Lukaku has significant room for improvement despite scoring the goal that gave Mourinho’s side hope of an unlikely comeback.

They deserve credit for taking it so close in the circumstances against opponents who were technically better and more polished. It’s easy to forget that United remain a team in transition.

But in the latter stages they were lumping the ball forward to Marouane Fellaini, playing with a heavily bandaged head, and that rather summed up the current gulf between the two clubs.

Both teams did well to produce such an entertaining spectacle in the conditions with temperatures still nudging above 30 degrees in the Macedonian capital just before kick-off, and requiring water breaks in either half.

However, playing 76 days after their Europa League triumph over Ajax in Stockholm, United were forced to defend deep and increasingly desperately after making a bight start.

Bale had already stabbed the ball just wide and Casemiro headed against the post from a corner before the latter gave Madrid the lead in the 24th minute.   

United fans were in good voice before kick off as they prepared to watch their team take on the Champions League winners

The Madristas were also vocal as they decked out their end of the Philip II Arena in their familiar all white

Real star Gareth Bale had an early chance at goal when he met a cross first time to send it goalwards but United survived

Dani Carvajal was in the thick of the action for the Spanish side down the right, here he tangled with Jesse Lingard

Casemiro was hovering on the shoulder of Lindelof, perhaps marginally offside, when Dani Carvajal floated a pass over the top of the United defence. It was simple but very effective.

While Lindelof was appealing in vain to the referee, the Brazilian anticipated the flight of the ball and met it with a controlled, first-time finish with his left foot beyond David De Gea.

On the few occasions Mourinho’s side threatened in the first half, the chance was wasted through sheer carelessness. Lukaku struggled to get into the game and his tame header at Keylor Navas on the stroke of half-time was United’s first attempt on target.

Mourinho sent out Marcus Rashford to warm up before replacing Lingard at half-time, and then stood alone in the tunnel before wandering outside to sit on the bench. 

Victor Lindelof made his competitive debut for United at the heart of defence, here he beat Karim Benzema to the ball

Before his goal Casemiro had already given United a scare when he cracked a diving header off the crossbar after 15 minutes

Paul Pogba was stationed on the left of United's midfield three, here the French star takes a pop at goal from distance

It was Real's holding midfielder Casemiro who got the opener, sliding to meet Carvajal's beautiful diagonal ball to score

Fellow Brazilian Marcelo was quick to celebrate with Casemiro after the midfielder had put Real on top in Skopje

But the tide of the game continued to flow towards De Gea’s goal and he produced an excellent save to turn away Toni Kroos’ effort after he had been teed up by Bale.

The former Tottenham player was again the provider when Real increased their lead in the 52nd minute. Again there was a sublime simplicity to the build-up as Isco took a pass infield from Karim Benzema and played the ball to Bale.

The return pass was timed and weighted to perfection, playing in Isco behind the United defence. He took one touch and slipped the ball past a helpless De Gea.

Lukaku was guilty of a horrible miss, blazing over from 10 yards out after Navas could only palm Paul Pogba’s header from an Ander Herrera cross straight to him, before he fired United back into the game in the 62nd minute. 

Former Real and current United manager Jose Mourinho was less than impressed at seeing his side concede 

The scheduled drinks break gave Mourinho the chance to try and rearrange his side the face of a Real onslaught 

United livewire midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan was left in agony following a crunching tackle from the goalscorer 

It was United midfielder Jesse Lingard who got the game's first booking for a foul on Isco late in the first half

The heat in Skopje was causing problems for the English side, here Lindelof tries to keep cool with a squirt of water

Lukaku was a little isolated up front in the first half but beat Ramos to a header at goal late in the opening period 

United new boy Nemanja Matic made his United bow but the Real midfield were giving their opponents a tough night

Bale had just crashed an effort against the underside of the bar from a difficult angle when Matic drilled a shot from the edge of the box. Again Navas couldn’t hold onto it, perhaps explaining why Madrid coveted De Gea for so long, and Lukaku got free of a static Sergio Ramos to turn the loose ball home.

It raised United’s hopes of taking the game into extra-time, and they almost did it when Navas made amends with a wonderful save to turn Rashford’s effort past the post when Henrikh Mkhitaryan sent the teenager through on goal.

But that would have flattered them as Real claimed their fourth UEFA Super Cup and left Mourinho waiting for his first after three unsuccessful attempts.

At the end, the United boss took off his loser’s medal almost immediately – as did most of his players – and handed it to a fan in the crowd.

There was nothing to celebrate here. Just a reminder of how much work remains to be done.  

Marcelo had a big chance to double the lead just before the second Real goal but Chris Smalling did enough to deflect it wide

Bale and Pogba are two of world football's biggest names, here they battle for the ball in the air during the Super Cup final

Isco was star man during his time on the pitch and it was he who doubled their lead less than 10 minutes after the break

Bale congratulates his team-mate after the goal to make it 2-0 to the Spanish at the Philip II Arena in Macedonia

Lukaku holds up his hands after missing a big chance to pull United back into the game with a close-range effort

Real boss Zinedine Zidane bellows instructions from the touchline as he watches his side take on United in Skopje

Bale had just crashed an effort against the underside of the bar from a difficult angle when Matic drilled a shot from the edge of the box. Again Navas couldn't hold to it, perhaps explaining why Madrid coveted De Gea for so long, and Lukaku got free of a static Sergio Ramos to turn the loose ball home.

It raised United's hopes of taking the game into extra-time, and they almost did it when Navas made amends with by turning Rashford's scuffed effort past the post after Henrikh Mkhitaryan had sent the teenager through on goal.

But that would have flattered United as Real claimed their fourth UEFA Super Cup and left Mourinho waiting for his first after three unsuccessful attempts.

At the end, the United boss took off his loser's medal almost immediately — as did most of his players — and handed it to a fan in the crowd. There was nothing to celebrate here. Just a reminder of how much work remains to be done.

Lukaku did get his goal, making the last 30 minutes a far more interesting encounter, with his effort from six yards out

Lukaku grabbed the ball from the back of the net and raced back to the halfway line after pulling his side back into the game

Second half substitute Marouane Fellaini was involved in a painful second-half clash of heads with Real captain Ramos

The Belgian midfielder had to be patched up and finished the game with a bandage around what looked a serious cut

Marcus Rashford came off the bench and made a big impact but missed a big chance to level the game in the 81st minute

Cristiano Ronaldo spent most of the contest sat on the bench at the Philip II Arena but came on to the pitch late on

The Portuguese star did not get much time to make an impact but caused a few problems after his late introduction

The result saw Real win their fourth UEFA Super Cup and Mourinho is still waiting for his first win in the season opener