Manchester United will have to try and find a way to stop Cristiano Ronaldo when they take on Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup after the Portuguese star was included in their squad.
There had been major question marks over the 32-year-old’s involvement in Tuesday night’s match after he was afforded an extra-long holiday following his Confederations Cup exploits.
He only returned to training over the weekend, having not played a minute of pre-season action, and had been expected to miss the trip to Skopje, Macedonia.
But Ronaldo was thought to be incredibly keen to take on his former club in such a mouth-watering match, and has kept himself in immaculate condition during his summer break.
That has prompted Zinedine Zidane to name the Ballon d’Or winner in his 24-man squad to take on the Red Devils, though whether he will start is a different matter.
Despite appearing to pick up another ankle injury during training prior to Madrid’s last friendly against an MLS All-Stars side, Gareth Bale has also been named in the squad.
That could give Jose Mourinho another chance to chat to the Welshman about a potential transfer to Old Trafford, with their last tunnel conversation getting fans very excited.
Speaking about the match, the Special One told UEFA.com: ‘It’s a fantastic opportunity to play against the best team in Europe, and one thing is to do that in friendly matches in the USA, and it’s quite another to play against them when they are in peak condition and fully motivated.
‘Our players don’t have a wealth of experience of big European matches. This is a new Manchester United, a new generation of players; last season was the Europa League, which was also so important for us in terms of gaining experience, but now we’re returning to the Champions League and to the UEFA Super Cup against the best team in Europe, so it’s a great opportunity.
‘Every time I’ve contested the UEFA Super Cup, it was as the Europa League winners. When I won the Champions League with Porto, I left Porto. When I won the Champions League with Inter, I left Inter.
‘So I’ve never contested the UEFA Super Cup as the strongest team. It’s the same story this time: I’m taking Manchester United to play against Real Madrid, the Champions League winners. Hopefully this time we can do it.’
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