Real Madrid: 5 players who must shine against Atelti in Supercup Final

On Sunday night, Real Madrid will face crosstown rivals Atletico Madrid in the Spanish Supercup Final. Here are five players who must shine in order for Los Blancos to claim their first win over Atleti this season.

In September, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid played out a goalless draw at the Wanda Metropolitano, though Los Blancos were the better team that night. They simply couldn’t find the breakthrough goal against world-class keeper Jan Oblak, though Toni Kroos and others certainly tested him from all angles.

Sunday night’s Spanish Supercup Final in Saudi Arabia will promise to be an exciting affair, even though both teams will be missing big stars between Eden Hazard, Koke, Karim Benzema, and Gareth Bale.

Here are five players on Los Blancos who need to shine in order for Real to prove unequivocally that they are on a different level from their crosstown rivals on the road to winning their first trophy of the season.

CB Sergio Ramos

Atletico Madrid have been one of the least creative attacking teams this season and don’t often create chances for their forwards, with young signing Joao Felix finding it particularly difficult to get a crack at goal. But in critical moments, Atleti can catch defenses napping, with Alvaro Morata recently scoring a crucial goal to bail out Atleti.

Sergio Ramos will need to provide more crucial leadership in this rivalry matchup, even if it isn’t occurring in the city of Madrid. (So is it really a derby this time around?) The Spain captain has been wonderful this season, but sometimes he gets caught napping or makes a crucial error. He must be 100-percent throughout the 90 minutes and may also have to come up big in the attack.