Real Madrid will start their 2024/25 season a little earlier than everyone else, as the club will face Atalanta in the UEFA Super Cup final during the week.
The reigning European champions have already announced their official squad for the game in Warsaw, including new signings Kylian Mbappe and Endrick.
Atalanta has to do without an important midfielder
Real Madrid’s opponent Atalanta, however, is having great difficulty completing its squad as coach Gian Piero Gasperini will likely be missing several star players.
As AS reports, Atalanta is approaching the historic date with Real Madrid without having solved the most complicated case of the summer, that of Teun Koopmeiners.
The Dutchman was one of the protagonists of last season for The Godan untouchable starter with 51 appearances, 15 goals and seven assists.
The Bergamo club had also counted on him this season, but the midfielder had other plans.
Gasperini confirmed that Koopmeiners is refusing to train and has decided to join Juventus. Despite an agreement with Juventus, negotiations for his sale are still stalled and there is a difference of almost 10 million euros between the two teams.
Three more players are missing
Atalanta also has to reckon with further setbacks: new signing Nicolo Zaniolo is out due to tendonitis and defender Rafael Toloi is out with muscle problems.
They join Giorgio Scalvini and Gianluca Scamacca, who are already out due to serious injuries.
In addition, striker El Bilal Touré is on the market after expressing his desire to leave the club following a year marked by a serious thigh injury.
These absences weaken Atalanta considerably, as Gasperini admitted, and make them “significantly less competitive” than the team that triumphed in the last Europa League.
Real Madrid will try to take advantage of these problems to secure their first trophy of the season.
