Real Madrid will be close to full strength for this encounter, with all of their big players returning from international duty to make this game. In particular, Kylian Mbappe is fully expected to make his debut (though potentially only from the bench), and Los Blancos will want to make a strong impression with their new signing on board.

Atalanta’s pre-season results have been poor. After drawing with AZ, they have suffered significant defeats to both Parma and St Pauli. Both of these teams have only just earned promotion to the top-flight in their respective countries. In particular, the Serie A outfit used a strong team against the Bundesliga side and were comfortably defeated 3-0.

Los Blancos have three days additional rest after not playing last weekend (Atalanta tackled St Pauli on Saturday) and come into this game on a high after beating Chelsea 2-1.

Real Madrid have an excellent record in showpiece events and are the only team since 2012 to have won this competition inside 90 minutes. They have done so on three occasions. They have won four of the five Super Cups they have entered since 2014, albeit one was after extra-time. The only game they lost, in 2018, was also after an additional 30 minutes.

The focus will be on the return of Jude Bellingham and the arrival of Kylian Mbappe, yet Vinicius Junior will be the main threat as he has minutes in his legs during pre-season, having featured against Barcelona as a substitute and then started against Chelsea. This means that he is likelier to get significant minutes while Los Blancos’ other superstars could have theirs managed.

Vini Jr is no stranger to shining on the big stage. He scored in the Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund and netted twice away to Bayern Munich in the first leg of the semi-final. This is the type of game that he adores and typically performs well in.

He scored in his one match against Italian opponents last season as he netted against Napoli in the group stages of the Champions League.

Atalanta’s defence is looking weak, having conceded an average of three goals per game across their three pre-season friendlies. In such a feeble state, a player like Vinicius Jr will expect to be able to cause big problems.

Atalanta likely to try to combat Real Madrid’s greater technical quality by playing at a high tempo. This was a tactic they used successfully in the Europa League final against Bayer Leverkusen. In that encounter, they gave away a staggering 21 fouls.

It will be harder for Gian Piero Gasperini’s side to play at that pace without making mistakes in this game. They are naturally not match-sharp as many of their players are over two months without a competitive game. Their friendlies will only have helped them in a limited way, particularly as they were against opponents of a far lower standard than Real Madrid.

This is a team used to and comfortable with giving away a high number of free kicks. They conceded at least 14 fouls in each of their Europa League knockout matches last season and in the final 11 competitive matches of the campaign, they gave up 16 or more fouls on seven occasions.

Real Madrid were the most-fouled team in the Champions League last season with a total of 133, equating to 10 per match. They never faced a team as intense defensively at Atalanta at their best.

Lookman was the star of the Europa League final as he played a spectacular match against Bayer Leverkusen and scored a hat-trick. It was a performance that showcased his big-game mentality and willingness to stand up and be a key figure.

Real Madrid’s defence is liable to be rusty and threatened by his pace and vivacity. The likes of Dani Carvajal and Ferland Mendy have not featured yet this summer for Los Blancos, with their stand-ins looking weak.

Lookman offered 1.14 shots on target per 90 last season in Serie A – the highest figure among Atalanta players who appeared for at least 1800 minutes. His importance has only increased since then due to serious injury to Gianluca Scamacca.

He had shots on target in seven of his last eight starts for Atalanta. The exception was the Coppa Italia final against Juventus, when he had six shots, one off his season-high, none finding the target.

He should be particularly sharp after enjoying a full pre-season. He was not drawn away on extensive international duty (although he did play a couple of World Cup qualifiers for Nigeria), unlike much of Real Madrid’s squad. This should offer him a competitive edge coming into the opening competitive match of the season.

Ederson was prone to receiving a card last season as he picked up 10 yellows in all competitions at a rate of 0.22 per 90.

He is liable to be deployed in a deep midfield area where he could be drawn to police Jude Bellingham or in a more advanced position where he could square off against Eduardo Camavinga. These players won most fouls for Real Madrid last season and the impactful style of Ederson’s pressing game could see him drawn into a misjudgement that would catch the eye of the referee.

The match official Sandro Scharer has shown at least five cards in the two games he has overseen this season and dished out at least four in three of the four European games he took charge of last season. He is not afraid of cautioning players.

He was second in playing time for Atalanta last season, turning out for 82.7% of all possible minutes for the club and started all the big European matches. He played 90 minutes of all the first legs before being taken off when the tie was apparently safe in the second leg. Suggests he will play the vast majority of this game.

Ederson continues to find himself the subject of transfer speculation, and it could be that he wants to show his qualities to any on-looking clubs. This could result in an overzealous challenge or two, increasing his chances of seeing a yellow card.

Of Real Madrid’s available forward players, Vinicius Junior is the likeliest to see extensive action. He has played in a couple of friendly matches and is a sizeable step ahead in his preparation compared to the club’s other main attacking threats Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe. This is likely to mean he plays much of the match.

He has shots on target in each of his last six for Real Madrid. Furthermore, he has 14 games in which he has managed multiple shots on target for Los Blancos in his last 22. His shots on target, therefore, tend to come in clusters. He has had more shots in which he has had three shots on target (seven) than exactly one (six).

A player used to taking responsibility on the big stage, he has an additional incentive to show his qualities to manager Carlo Ancelotti thanks to the arrival of Mbappe. This signing could pique the ego of the Brazil striker and make him a little more individualistic than he might otherwise have been in this game. That could mean getting shots off when he might otherwise has passed.

Atalanta’s defence showing significant weakness in pre-season as it has conceded nine goals across three games. Real Madrid are likely to pepper their goal as a consequence.