Debutant Mbappe helps Real Madrid overpower Atalanta to win Super Cup

Kevin Pogorzelski /

Atalanta failed to continue their continental heroics at the National Stadium Warsaw on Wednesday night, with the Serie A side defeated 2-0 by European heavyweights Real Madrid in the 2024 UEFA Super Cup final.

Lifting the 2023/24 Europa League against the odds three months earlier had earned La Dea the chance to contest the trophy with the Champions League winners from the Spanish capital, but a debut goal from Kylian Mbappe after Federico Valverde had opened the scoring highlighted the gap between the pairs' resources.

However, with Carlo Ancelotti leading the La Liga giants to another piece of silverware, there was at least a positive for fans of Italian football to take.

Atalanta captain Marten De Roon contests the ball in the UEFA Super Cup final (@Atalanta_BC).

Gasperini almost wins the battle of Italian coaches

Despite a depleted squad, if not first-team, the coaching expertise of Gian Piero Gasperini was on display once again during the first half in Poland, much like it had been against Bayer Leverkusen when winning the Europa League in May, with Atalanta looking comfortable against their more decorated opponents.

After blocking a close-range effort from Los Blancos debutant Mbappe early on, La Dea were never really threatened during the opening period and the man-to-man defensive approach worked so well that the Italians were as competitive going forward.

Real defender Eder Militao turned a cross onto his own crossbar, Ederson concerned goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois with a speculative effort and Ademola Lookman was one tackle from bursting through on goal.

Davide Zappacosta of Atalanta tussles with Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham (@Atalanta_BC).

Second period show of strength from Real Madrid

Attacker Rodrygo Goes hitting the Atalanta crossbar on the stroke of half-time was a sign that the collective strength of the European champions and, although Courtois made an outstanding save to stop a Mario Pasalic header on 47 minutes, the Spaniards slowly increased the pressure and eventually overwhelmed their opponents.

Within an hour played, a wonderful piece of skill from Vinicius Junior at the end of a tidy passing move allowed the Brazilian to slide the ball across the area for Valverde to fire into an empty net a few yards out.

Minutes later, Jude Bellingham rolled the ball towards the penalty spot from a similar position and an onrushing Mbappe side-footed into the top corner.