OFFICIAL: Santiago Bernabeu Trophy to be played on August 23rd
By Ahmed Genina
Real Madrid have announced that the 38th edition of the trophy will be played against Fiorentina.
As stated on Real’s official website, the match will be a recreation of the 1957 Champions League (European Cup at the time) Final. The match was held at the Santiago Bernabeu and Los Blancos won 2-0. Alfredo de Stefano and Paco Gento scored the goals for Real Madrid.
Since last year, Real has been following the tradition of recreating the first five European Cups they won from 1956 until 1960. Last year the visitors were Stade de Reims. Real emerged grabbed a 5-3 win against the French side.
A match like this one could’ve been a very nice way to bid farewell to Pepe. Unfortunately, the Portuguese center back has already left the club for Besiktas.
By August 23rd, the team will have played under serious pressure against the likes of Manchester United in the European Super Cup, and Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup. This will definitely be an excellent chance for Zidane to experiment once more with the squad.
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Cristiano Ronaldo has yet to participate in the pre-season due to his international play with Portugal in the Confederations Cup back in June. Naturally, he will be a little rusty against Man United and Barcelona. The friendly match will give Ronaldo 90 minutes to take the usual rust off his feet before Real’s first La Liga match at home against Valencia.
Los Che are always a tough opponent, even at home. All the players have to be ready, especially Ronaldo. His partners in the front line, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale have had a very disappointing pre-season thus far.
Their performance in the International Champions Cup proved once again that Ronaldo is still one of the main pillars in this team. His absence is always felt and compensating his eventual departure will definitely be a serious challenge for both the president and the coach at that time.
Moreover, the match might have another objective than just recreating the 1957 European Cup Final. Florentino Perez might be organizing the match also as a way to present a new player. One that could be Real’s most expensive signing: Kylian Mbappe.
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