The question on everyone's lips, is Cristiano Ronaldo playing?
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo (Photo: AFP)
Cristiano Ronaldo will have to start from the bench for Real Madrid’s UEFA Super Cup tie against his former club Manchester United, with Los Blancos manager Zinedine Zidane opting to play Isco in stead of the Portuguese superstar at the Philip II Arena on Tuesday night.
Apart from Ronaldo, there are no notable absentees, with Keylor Navas between the sticks and a standard back-four of Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane and Dani Carvajal all present.
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Real are playing in their regular 4-3-3 formation, with Luka Modric and Toni Kroos on either side of Casemiro.
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Up front, Isco gives company to Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema and perhaps Marco Asensio’s omission from the starting XI could see the young winger push for a move away from the Bernabeu in the coming weeks. It is likely that Real will bring on Ronaldo in the second-half, but for now the star forward will have to make do with the bench.
Jose Mourinho has raised a few eyebrows with his selection in attack, as £75 million-signing Romelu Lukaku will a 4-2-3-1 formation with Henrikh Mkhitaryana and Jesse Lingard giving him support. Both Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford, who have been impressive in pre-season, will watch the game from the dugout and hope to make a cameo appearance.
Paul Pogba, Ander Herrera and summer signing Nemanja Matic start in midfield while suspensions to Eric Bailly and Phil Jones have forced Mourinho to pair new boy Victor Lindelof with Chris Smalling in the centre of defence.
Right-back Antonio Valencia captains the side and Matteo Darmian will occupy the opposite flank.
Real Madrid target David de Gea, in goal, completes the United XI.
Teams
Real Madrid: Navas, Marcelo, Varane, Ramos (C), Carvajal, Kroos, Modric, Casemiro, Bale, Benzema and Isco.
Manchester United: De Gea, Darmian, Smalling, Lindelof, Valencia (C), Matic, Herrera, Pogba, Mkhitaryan, Lingard and Lukaku.
Match starts at 7.45 PM GMT (12.15 AM IST).
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