Jose Mourinho still has a lot of work to do to get United up to Real Madrid’s level (Picture: Getty)

Manchester United were unable to resist a sparkling performance from Real Madrid that underlined their status as Europe’s best and highlighted the gulf in quality Jose Mourinho’s side still need to make up if they are to challenge in the Champions League next season.

Real dominated possession from the first whistle in Tuesday night’s UEFA Super Cup contest and looked sharper and quicker despite being a week behind in their pre-season preparations.

Casemiro showed he is more than just an enforcer with a fine finish in the first half – that was just onside – before a beautifully woven goal saw Gareth Bale and Isco take five red shirts out of the game before the latter steered the ball past David de Gea.

It is a very long time since Real lost a major European or international final (Picture: Getty)

More chances followed for both teams. Romelu Lukaku impossibly missed from close range before Bale nearly broke the crossbar, though the Belgian made amends as he tucked away fellow summer signing Nemanja Matic’s parried effort.

Real hung on comfortably, though, and victory was no great surprise; they have now won their last 11 international finals across the Champions League, Super Cup and Club World Cup. United, meanwhile, can take heart from a display that would have been good enough for three points against most Premier League sides.

STAR MAN – Casemiro

Not only did he score, Casemiro helped Real dominate the midfield against United (Picture: Getty)
Not only did he score, Casemiro helped Real dominate the midfield against United (Picture: Getty)

Casemiro picked up where he left off in the Champions League final, scoring an excellent goal to break the deadlock having already hit the woodwork with a header. If anyone still thought he was a pure destroyer and nothing more, the Brazilian proved that he is the complete package.

He was everywhere on the pitch, shielding the back four and providing real tenacity in midfield – no-one made more tackles – but showed intelligence and cunning when he was in possession. Of his 53 passes, only two did not find their target. It is arguable that he is now Europe’s best box-to-box No.6.

Real Madrid's top five passers

Toni Kroos – 76 passes – 96%
Sergio Ramos – 71 passes – 89%
Luka Modric – 71 passes – 93%
Isco – 68 passes – 88%
Casemiro – 61 passes – 93%

He was, it should be noted, given tremendous support as ever by Real’s remarkable pass masters Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, while Isco dropped in to add another body. As a diamond, there is perhaps no midfield that can compete with them. Skilful, intelligent, creative, robust and utterly dominant again in Macedonia.

FAILED TO IMPRESS – Paul Pogba

Pogba will need to step up and be more decisive this season after a sloppy show in Skopje (Getty)

Pogba was not terrible by any stretch of the imagination, but he wasn’t particularly good either. Matic’s arrival was supposed to free him up – and he certainly played in far more advanced areas against Real – while the use of a back three in the first half eased his defensive burden even further.

Yet he struggled to affect the match in the final third – Matic played the same number of key passes (two) – and could not prevent Real from dominating the midfield. Of the Spanish champions’ starting XI, only goalkeeper Keylor Navas played fewer passes than all of United’s starters bar Matic.

Manchester United's top five passers

Nemanja Matic – 49 passes – 88%
Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 38 passes – 79%
Antonio Valencia – 36 passes – 83%
Paul Pogba – 36 passes – 80%
Ander Herrera – 29 passes – 83%

But he did find himself in space, notably leading exactly the kind of counter-attack that is made for his leggy transition talent, but snubbed the obvious pass and smashed an ambitious effort straight into a black shirt. The upcoming season will be huge for Pogba, and one in which he must unequivocally live up to his price tag.

BIGGEST ERROR – Lukaku’s shock miss

Lukaku bagged his first goal for United, but not before impossibly blazing over the bar (Getty)

There were two big moments that stood out from Lukaku’s performance. The first saw him return from an offside position to nick the ball off Ander Herrera as the Spaniard burst into space. Had he had the awareness to leave the ball, it would have created a 2v2 situation and potentially a goal.

The second was a horror miss from the Belgian after Keylor Navas had failed to push away Paul Pogba’s header adequately. Six yards out, goalkeeper sprawled on the floor and the goal gaping, yet he sent the ball into Row Z.

Real Madrid match stats

Total shots – 16
Shots on target – 6
Pass accuracy – 88%
Possession – 66%


Manchester United match stats

Total shots – 14
Shots on target – 6
Pass accuracy – 81%
Possession – 37%

But what will have pleased Mourinho is how his £75m man reacted to those setbacks. His hold-up play had been inconsistent and he missed the only good chance he’d been provided with to that point, yet his head did not drop.

When a virtually identical chance arose minutes later, he made no mistake, slotting the ball past Navas. There was no celebration despite netting his first official goal for United, instead picking the ball up and running it to the centre circle. Whatever his faults, Lukaku will score a lot of goals, and that was his 17th in 21 games in 2017. He’ll hope the next one isn’t a consolation.

WHAT SURPRISED US? – Mourinho’s back three

Very few teams could have lived with Real, and United did well to limit them to two goals (Getty)
Very few teams could have lived with Real, and United did well to limit them to two goals (Getty)

Mourinho has previously intimated that he might use a back three more frequently in the upcoming season, with Victor Lindelof’s arrival giving him a few more options to play with – the Swede’s ball-playing skills are needed to make the formation effective.

Nevertheless, it was still quite a surprise to see United line up in a 3-5-2 formation against Real, with Matteo Darmian playing at left centre-back and Jesse Lingard parachuted in to play at left wing-back. It is a tactical switch up that certainly lends weight to rumours of United wanting to sign Danny Rose.

Mourinho speaking to BT Sport

‘I think we did well. I think they could score more goals than they did, we could score more goals than we did. They had a period of dominance, we had a period of dominance. We gave them a good fight. My boys can leave optimistic, proud and let’s go for Sunday.’

Unfortunately the formation did not quite match up against Real, who outnumbered their opponents in the middle of the pitch and dominated possession. Mourinho needed Lindelof to step up into midfield but as the back-line stepped off, reverting to a back five, it became defence versus attack.

Real’s midfield would rack up three times as many passes and by the time Real had gone 2-0 up, Mourinho had seen enough. Marcus Rashford, a half-time sub, was pushed forward and the back four restored, before Marouane Fellaini was introduced from the bench.

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