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After the spectacle of international football which is the World Cup, all attention would once again switch to the European club scene for footballing action, as the season kicks off with the UEFA Super Cup clash between city rivals Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid at the Tallinn Stadium in Estonia on Wednesday.
Real Madrid are enjoying the most successful period in their modern history, having won the Champions League in three consecutive seasons, as well as the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, in each of the last two seasons.
Their city rivals, Atletico Madrid, have also been successful in recent years, after the debacles of the last decade. They, however, underperformed in the UCL last season, finishing third in their group behind AS Roma and Chelsea, thereby, suffering a demotion to the Europa League.
The 'Red and Whites' however rallied together and put up an impressive campaign to triumph in the second tier of European club football.
Atletico have proved to be one of the more difficult opponents for the Los Blancos and have the ability to cause their city neighbours real problems. They have lost four European ties (including two finals) to Real Madrid in the last five years and would be desperate to get one over their more illustrious neighbours.
Real Madrid however, despite being without Ronaldo and record-breaking coach Zinedine Zidane are still the clear favourites to triumph in this tie, owing to their superior players and recent successes. Here are four players who can help Real secure another European trophy:
#4 Vinicius Jr
The 18-year-old signed a contract with Real Madrid in 2017 when he was barely 17 and had played less than 50 professional games in his career. Real Madrid saw huge potential in the Flamengo product and therefore, went ahead with the agreement.
The deal was finally concluded in July last month (as the minimum age for international transfers is 18 years), for a fee of £38.7 million, which is the highest a Brazilian club has received for the sale of a player (Neymar cost Barcelona €86m, but Santos only received €17m). It is also the highest transfer fee paid for a player below the age of 19 (Mbappe had turned 19 when his PSG move was finalized).
Although it is too early to start waxing lyrical about him, Vinicius Jr has looked very impressive during pre-season, having impressed on his Bernabeu debut against AC Milan, with his very first touch in a Madrid shirt drawing applause from the notoriously difficult to please Bernabeu crowd.
He might not get to start the match owing to the presence of much more established forwards in the Real attack, but based on what we've seen so far, the Brazilian has the potential to become the next big thing in world football.
#3 Sergio Ramos
In the opinion of many, the best defender in the world, Sergio Ramos is definitely one of the greatest defenders in Real Madrid's history and has captained the club through its record-breaking feats in recent years.
Love him or hate him, you cannot deny Ramos' brilliance and his dedication to doing whatever is necessary to ensure his team succeeds.
An aggressive and technical defender, Ramos is also famed for his goalscoring exploits, and would be no stranger to the Atletico fans, having broken their hearts with his stoppage-time equalizer during the 2014 final which ultimately, helped grant Real Madrid its long-awaited 'La Decima'.
The Sevilla youth product also scored the opening goal in the 2016 UCL final against the same opponents (as Real triumphed 5-4 on penalties).
With Atletico Madrid's famed defence, they would have to be wary of the 32-year-old coming forward during set pieces. Sergio Ramos has been a key component of Real Madrid for almost 15 years, playing major roles in all of the club's successes, and if 'Los Blancos' are to win the UEFA Super Cup for the third consecutive season, then Ramos could be the deciding factor
#2 Karim Benzema
Much maligned in recent seasons due to his low returns in terms of goalscoring, Karim Benzema always divides opinion. However, with Ronaldo having left the club, the French-international would be the one Real Madrid would turn to for leading the line.
The 30-year-old French striker will definitely spearhead the Real attack, after nine seasons of playing second fiddle to Cristiano Ronaldo.
A supremely technical player, whose excellent link-up and hold-up play means he always remains a threat to all defences. In fact, Atletico have had the first-hand experience of this, following his superb close control dribble, which took out three defenders and opened up space for the Frenchman to tee up Isco to score in the second leg of their 4-2 aggregate victory in the 2017 Champions League semi-final.
Karim Benzema was signed in 2009 as a youngster with a burgeoning goalscoring reputation, but over the next nine seasons somewhat failed to live up to his early promise largely thanks to Ronaldo's presence.
Now in the absence of the iconic Portuguese, the Frenchman has a chance to show the world what he is truly made of, and Atletico would have to keep a close eye on him.
#1 Gareth Bale
Another player to have been overshadowed by Ronaldo's gargantuan impact, Gareth Bale was signed in 2013 for a then world record fee of £85 million, owing to his impressive displays for Tottenham in the Premier League.
Since that time, however, like everyone else, he has struggled to exert the same influence that he exhibited at Tottenham, as Ronaldo's effect on Real was so enormous that it was impossible to usurp him.
Injuries have also been unkind to the Welshman, as persistent spells on the treatment table meant that the Bernabeu crowd have never truly seen the best of Gareth Bale.
There have been flashes of brilliance though. It was he, who got the first goal in extra time after Ramos had scored a late leveller in the Champions League 'La Decima' triumph of 2014.
There was also his winning strike against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final of 2014, where he left Marc Bartra for dead in a stunning burst of pace and more recently his wonder overhead kick goal against Liverpool in the final of the just concluded Champions League.
However, those moments have been far too rare for a player of Bale's high quality, and he has found himself out of the Madrid first team picture for the last two seasons, leading to increased speculations over his long-term future at the Bernabeu, as he sought increased playing time.
With Ronaldo gone, the stage now seems set for Gareth Bale to play a prominent role for the Los Blancos, and the first step to ushering Real Madrid into glory post-Ronaldo would be to play a starring role in delivering the first trophy the capital club contests in his absence.
