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What's the story?
Earlier today, Real Madrid announced their squad for Wednesday’s UEFA Super Cup clash against Atletico Madrid. All the high-profile stars and others have been called up. A total of 29 players will be travelling for the final which is scheduled to be played at the A. Le Coq Arena in Tallinn, Estonia.
New signings such as Vinicius Junior, Thibaut Courtois, and Alvaro Odriozola have made the cut to take on Diego Simeone’s men. Luka Modric has also been included, despite heavy links with Serie A side Inter Milan.
In case you didn't know...
Real Madrid begin a new era after the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo after he left in a world record transfer to Juventus. Speaking of Antoine Griezmann, Atletico managed to hold onto their star man. The World Cup winner had been a long-term target of both Manchester United and Barcelona before he signed a contract extension with the Madrid club in June.
The heart of the matter
Coach Lopetegui included every man on Real Madrid’s first team and then some youngsters as well. Also as previously informed by Madrid, their 29 players will travel for European Super Cup are as follow:
Goalkeepers-
Courtois, Navas, Casilla, Luca, and Lunin.
Defenders-
Reguilón, Ramos, S. López, Varane, Nacho, Carvajal, Odriozola, Javi Sánchez, Vallejo and Marcelo.
Midfielders-
M. Llorente, Kroos, Casemiro, F. Valverde, Modric, Asensio, Ceballos and Isco.
Forwards-
Vinicius, Lucas Vázquez, B. Mayoral, Benzema, Raúl de Tomás and Bale.
What came a bit of a surprise on viewing the list is that one player who will not be travelling is 19-year-old Norwegian midfielder Martin Odegaard, who looks set to go on loan again even though he was involved in the pre-season.
As for Alvaro Odriozola, he was included even though he's injured and won't be available to play. The same goes for Jesus Vallejo, who is also injured.
What's next?
As European Super Cup's final is scheduled to be happening on August 16, 2018, Madrid's squad is looking pretty stacked. Hopefully, if all goes according to Julen Lopetegui's plan, the Spanish Giants might be taking home their fifth-Super Cup this season.
