Can’t argue with the outcome, really – you always sensed Real had another gear there too. But United did have chances in the second half: Lukaku should have scored another in an up-and-down game from him, while Rashford had a great opportunity to equalise too. The performance of Matic was a big plus in midfield, I think, too – if Mourinho gets the right blend around him, he’ll be a fine addition.
The prizegiving is now taking place. Mourinho congratulates Real’s players individually and gives Ronaldo a friendly pat on the cheek. We could go further into that but let’s wrap this up now. It was a fairly entertaining game, so thanks for joining and we will meet again once the proper stuff starts. Cheerio!
Real Madrid win the Uefa Super Cup!
That’s full-time, and they’ve done it again! Hugs all round out there.
Updated
90+7 min: It’s Ronaldo to take it, quite obviously. It’s also blazed a long way off target.
90+6 min: That one is cleared too. Not so much subtlety to United’s approach now really, and now Valencia fouls Ronaldo near the edge of the box and offers a last-gasp chance of a showstopper ...
90+5 min: Pogba is being treated by the side of the pitch, in the meantime, for a wound to the head. Should be back on in a sec. Yep, now is – and they have another set-piece...
90+4 min: Late chance to load the box as Asensio fouls Mkhitaryan. The big guns are up for United but Real smuggle it away and Rashford causes severe consternation – and earns an instant yellow card – when he sends Vazquez flying.
90+2 min: Ramos gets onto this corner too, and might do better than nod wide of the near post.
90+1 min: We’ll see SEVEN extra minutes here. Can United do it? They have a chance ...and Valencia whips in a delicious cross that Fellaini meets on the rise .. but Navas dives to his right and catches. Then De Gea makes a much better save, Vazquez teeing up Asensio and the goalkeeper reacting ever so sharply to deflect the ball over!
90 min: Lukaku’s latest contribution of a mixed night is a foul throw.
90 min: Pogba has a chance to set Rashford away down the left but wastes the ball again. Real counter and Marcelo wins a corner from Valencia. They’re not bothered about committing too many forward now but the ball is delivered straight into the box and Ramos glances it over.
87 min: Again, though, the free kick is wasted – I think by Pogba – although Navas has to act fast to make sure it doesn’t accidentally drop under his bar. He catches it.
86 min: Ramos is now furious to be booked for fouling Pogba on the right – he should be glad it’s been 86 minutes, to be fair – and United can apply pressure again. They’re finishing well here.
86 min: “Cristiano Ronaldo is about to enter the fray? This must be the greatest specimen of manly-kind to grace a Macedonian pitch since Alexander the Great, wouldn’t you reckon? Although the statues of Alexander are much better than His, to be honest,” jests Peter Oh.
85 min: Rashford has a go himself but will wish he hadn’t – the free kick is far too high.
Updated
84 min: A booking for Carvajal, who challenged Rashford ... ummm ... rashly, and United have another chance now. In fact it was a pretty cynical arm round him as he looked to get away onto a ball over the top.
83 min: Ronaldo comes on for Benzema and we get the biggest cheer of the night. He can’t get anything on the Real corner that also greets him, though.
81 min: Rashford should equalise! It all comes from Darmian controlling an awkward ball from De Gea really well and keeping it in. United work the ball forward really nicely and Rashford is played clear on goal by Mkhitaryan – he goes with his left foot and Navas gets enough on it to turn round the post. What a chance, though. He had time and space to score.
80 min: Fellaini is still having problems, although he is up now and being led to the side. Presumably they have bandaged up whatever the issue was, and we’ll be good to go!
78 min: Fellaini went down too then, and has stayed down for treatment. But more interestingly for the Macedonia massive, Ronaldo looks as if he will join us very soon.
76 min: Brilliant ball from Matic towards Fellaini, who gets a jump on Ramos at the back stick but heads it well over. Ramos got a knock to the head there and is down – he just did enough there to stop Fellaini angling it towards goal.
74 min: Yep, Vazquez and Asensio on for Bale and the outstanding Isco.
73 min: Subs for Real shortly – but in the meantime we’ll have a water break. I think Asensio and Vazquez will join us after it.
71 min: A corner for United, and they’ve a lot of height on there now. It’s flicked dangerously across goal but Smalling can’t quite readjust. United warming to this now though.
69 min: Pogba gets the ball back from Fellaini but gets his feet wrong and Benzema, tracking back, takes it off him.
67 min: Can’t help but notice the two assists (well, one assist, should have been two) Navas has given Lukaku. What would Real give for the guy at the other end?
65 min: Will this stir Real to introduce Ronaldo? The crowd would certainly like that.
Updated
Goal! Real Madrid 2-1 Manchester United (Lukaku 62)
He makes no mistake this time! Rashford picks out Matic, whose drive from 20 yards is well struck and squirms away from Navas. Lukaku is following up again and there’s a momentary pause of breath but the finish is clinical, if simple. Now they’re back in it ... whether they deserve to be or not!
Updated
61 min: Bale smacks a right-footer against the bar! It came after Real, playing the ball around inside United’s half for what seemed an eternity, suddenly speeded things up and sent Bale away down the inside right. They were toying with United there ...
Updated
58 min: De Gea holds onto a crisp Modric drive. We have to give United and Mourinho time. Have to, because it would be stupid not to. But the gulf is very wide on this evidence.
@NickAmes82 best team in the world against 6th best in England. Hardly a shocker tonight
— stevebelkacem (@stevebelkacem) August 8, 2017
Well, no.
56 min: Let’s take a second to think about what a wonderful player Isco is, though. It just happens to be the same second that United replace Herrera with Marouane Fellaini.
54 min: Oh, it really shouldn’t be game over – what a miss from Lukaku! Pogba has a free header eight yards out and should score, although Navas parries well to his left. But it falls wonderfully for Lukaku, who just has to blast into the open goal. Instead it’s a wild slash over the bar. Oh no, Romelu!
Goal! Real Madrid 2-0 Manchester United (Isco 52)
A lovely goal. Benzema, out on the left, plays it inside to Isco – who then plays a superb first-time give-and-go with Bale, proceeding to dart into the box and go one-on-one with De Gea. The finish is never really in doubt. It’s cool and low, and it is probably game over too.
Updated
49 min: Rashford slips the ball through Carvajal’s legs with his first run but Casemiro nips in there to snuff any danger out.
49 min: De Gea saves again! A big right hand turns a meaty Kroos drive round the post – the corner is then cleared. Real keep going and Marcelo finds far too much space on the left after a Mkhitaryan error. His shot is deflected into the side netting, and Pogba heads the corner away.
47 min: Modric locates Benzema quite beautifully on the left and he cuts in before aiming a ball towards Bale, who can’t beat Smalling to it.
Peeeeeep! Here comes the second 45.
Real kick us back off.
The teams are back out – and they include Marcus Rashford! He is on for Lingard.
Second half coming up in five. Can United come back? I thought Matic had a good half there. Lukaku, in particular, needed to do more though – that error when he should have let Herrera take the ball was inexcusable, basic stuff really.
I think Ian Copestake is being sarcastic when he offers: “Oh to be a Utd fan! The anticipation alone must be worth the entrance fee when one considers the attacking potential of a combination of Lingard, Herrera, , Valencia, Matic, Lukaku. Carrick, Blind, and not forgetting Fellaini!”
Half-time: Real Madrid 1-0 Manchester United
Real well on top really, despite a reasonable start from United. They were comfortably the better side from the 10th to 30th minutes, scoring in that time through Casemiro, and weren’t really troubled towards the end of the half. De Gea saved well from Benzema too. United have it all to do: the far superior side is winning.
Updated
45 min: Pogba tracks back superbly to stop a Casemiro break in the centre circle and United can attack. A patient move ends with a Pogba diagonal into the box for Lukaku, who outdoes Ramos but heads straight at Navas.
43 min: Modric runs up against Matic, goes down inside the box but nothing’s awarded ... it almost doesn’t matter as play is waved on and the ball rolls to Benzema, who rasps in a right-footer that De Gea repels sharply to his right.
42 min: First yellow card, now, Lingard having fouled Isco. he isn’t happy. Nor are United. The complaints seem slightly heavy for what that was, and for what this is.
41 min: Another Valencia cross, another Varane header with Lukaku lurking. United need a touch more guile here despite their improvement.
39 min: Now Valencia evades Marcelo but Varane nods his cross away ... then Ramos is sharply in to stop Mkhitaryan finding space at an angle. It’s a different United now, even if they’re not exactly looking slick.
38 min: Herrera has a pretty pointless dig from range that sails pointlessly wide. What would the xG have been for that, Ander?
36 min: Better from Lukaku there, finding Pogba on the left of the box. He tries to measure a finish across Navas but it’s blocked. United a bit more sprightly since the drinks though.
35 min: Dozy from Lukaku, who is offside when Herrera nips the ball off Kroos but runs onto the ball anyway. If he leaves it, Herrera can carry on and cause some danger.
34 min: Poor from Herrera though. He looks for Matic at the back post but overcooks it and it sails out.
33 min: Oh, it was just the two minutes and we’ve started again. A suitably refreshed United win a dangerous free kick after Varane fells Pogba 30 yards out.
@NickAmes82 as the saying goes "I've got a bad feeling about this" for MUFC not capable of living with Real when there's a trophy up 4 grabs
— John McEnerney (@MackerOnTheMed) August 8, 2017
31 min: Now for the drinks break. It will last three minutes, which will then be added on. I’ll most definitely need a drink if the pace since Real scored doesn’t pick up again.
Updated
30 min: Benzema plays in a probably not offside Bale, who is flagged offside. Maybe that offsets the earlier one.
28 min: “United need to get through to the drinks break without conceding another one,” we have just been told by the commentary team. It’s due on the half-hour.
26 min: Real had begun turning the screw and deserved the goal. Are we seeing just how far United still need to go to trouble Europe’s leading lights?
Goal! Real Madrid 1-0 Manchester United (Casemiro 24)
This had been coming. Casemiro makes no mistake this time, timing his run onto a Carvajal ball perfectly – although borderline offside – to get beyond Lindelof and slide in to steer a fine first-time finish across De Gea.
Updated
23 min: And now De Gea bawls at Herrera for lamping clear a looping ball he wanted to claim. United a bit frayed. Lukaku had earlier, when given an invitation to hold the ball up, chested it straight to a black shirt.
22 min: Matic marshals Modric to the right byline but the latter still fires a cross-shot that De Gea clutches at his near post.
21 min: Carvajal tries a volley from an angle but it’s speculative and Darmian blocks. United currently finding it tough to get on the ball, and Isco is the next player to blast off target from 25 yards.
19 min: Marcelo finds Bale, who somehow wriggles past Lindelof but can’t quite get his foot around the ball for a good delivery and it’s cleared. If United had the first 10 minutes, Real have been on top in the last few.
18 min: J.R. in Illinois speaks truth to ... errr... us: “Upon viewing the replay we now know that Mkhitaryan was not fouled. We also know he did not slip. So what say we call it what it was: a blatant dive. Should have been booked for that.”
Casemiro then laces a 20-yarder not too far over.
16 min: Almost a Real sight of goal after a slip by Matic by the edge of his own box but the ball flies the wrong side of Modric. Real do eventually win another flag kick ... from which Casemiro crashes a header against the bar! De Gea was rooted to his line, and the midfielder simply looked more determined than those around him. Should perhaps have scored having got there!
Updated
15 min: The pace has slowed, which it will in this heat. Lingard grapples at Carvajal as he tries to get to the byline, but the defender is too savvy to be overcome by that.
Updated
12 min: A second Real corner, which comes after Lindelof just beats Benzema to a raking Marcelo ball. Kroos swings it in but Ramos – the shock of it – fouls Smalling.
10 min: United work the ball slickly wide to Valencia but his cross is beyond Lukaku. Matic fouls Isco in trying to regain possession, but United look physically and technically quite sharp early on.
Updated
8 min: United having a good spell and Mkhitaryan, taking the initiative, looks to charge past Ramos and through on goal. He goes over and play is waved on. Foul? Slip? Probably the latter, but the crowd seem broadly pro-United and boo the non-decision.
6 min: A quite lovely piece of control and quick feet from Pogba out on the left, taming a direct pass from De Gea, allows Lingard to scamper away but he overruns it. There’ll be GIFs of that later though.
4 min: Encouraging amount of space around the pitch early on and Kroos slides in Bale, whose low cross it shanked away by Matic.
3 min: Bale wins a corner from Matic. It’s worked out to Marcelo, whose delivery spins up off Mkhitaryan and falls to Bale inside the six-yard box – he jabs out a leg but puts it over. A chance, though.
Updated
1 min: Lukaku has a go at a direct ball forward from Lingard and almost gets lucky – Navas comes out to the corner of his area but is nowhere and the striker is able to nod it away from him, but the defence can clear up.
Peeeeeeep!
Our Italian referee, Gianluca Rocchi, bids United get us underway. They play in red, Real in black.
Matt Loten has a query about the actual football: “Given that this is ostensibly Jose’s first-choice lineup, can someone explain to me why Lingard plays ahead of Martial and Rashford? I like Jesse; he works hard and can stretch defences, but he’s not of the same quality or potential as the other two. Darmian is a solid defender, and now that United finally have a top-class defensive midfielder in Matic, I’m not sure the argument that Lingard’s defensive workrate is needed really washes.”
Now the teams emerge. It’s searingly hot out there – around 30 degrees I believe – so I think we’re in drinks-break territory. It might have an impact on the speed of the game too. Let us see ...
The opening ceremony is currently taking place in Skopje. Yes, of course we have an opening ceremony. I’m not party to much footage but it does, as is the modern way, mean this game will almost certainly start late. Live coverage of the sideshow coming up as soon as they deign to start it.
Did you know that Real have won the Super Cup three times, most recently last year? And what a match that was – a rattling good 3-2 win over Sevilla, with an injury-time equaliser and a winner in the last minute of extra-time! More of the same please (in terms of entertainment ... we are neutral).
Jose speaks! I missed the first bit so feast your eyes on his views on a start for new boy Lindelof at the back: “Lindelof came from a big club but a completely different level in terms of responsibility. I’d prefer to give him a bit more time but we have no other chances, we lost two players through suspension and Rojo is injured.”
Updated
Don’t think there is anything sinister behind Ronaldo not starting, by the way. He even got a fine round of applause from both sets of fans when he came out to warm up. Mourinho gets a good look at Bale though, eh!
English team not won UEFA Supercup since 05 - Liverpool v CSKA. Not often been priority. United not won it since 1991 v Red Star Belgrade.
— Dermot Corrigan (@dermotmcorrigan) August 8, 2017
Any chance they will put that right tonight? Joking aside, these have been entertaining games in recent years – even if to me they haven’t felt the same since they were moved from Monaco after 2012.
This match is, of course, being held in Skopje, Macedonia. It’s arguably a bigger occasion for Skopje than either of these clubs – a football showpiece event whose like they haven’t hosted before. Lovely city, too, if you haven’t been.
The teams
Real Madrid: Navas, Carvajal, Sergio Ramos, Varane, Marcelo, Kroos, Modric, Bale, Casemiro, Isco, Benzema. Subs: Casilla, Nacho, Ronaldo, Hernandez, Kovacic, Lucas, Asensio.
Man Utd: De Gea, Lindelof, Darmian, Smalling, Pogba, Lingard, Herrera, Mkhitaryan, Valencia, Matic, Lukaku. Subs: Romero, Mata, Martial, Carrick, Blind, Rashford, Fellaini.
Matic starts! Ronaldo does not!
Good evening
Manchester United can take the first step to another glorious treble tonight! OK, too easy, especially as Jose is very much the Humble One these days. I don’t know about you, but all those gargantuan far-flung face-offs between half-bothered global giants in all corners of the world during pre-season rather lessen the litmus test effect of an event like this, but the Super Cup has a strong tradition all the same and there are subplots here. Maybe there’s even some Narrative.
How will Mourinho get on against his former club, and particularly an insolent Sergio Ramos, was was not altogether glowing about his former coach in his pre-match spiel? Will we learn more about Mourinho’s nakedly obvious courtship of Gareth Bale as this evening’s fun unfolds? Are we to glean evidence that Romelu Lukaku can play with the continental big boys? Stay tuned for all the buildup, and feel free to drop us an email/tweet or two.
Preamble
Nick will be here soon.
Updated
