Real Madrid ready for first trophy of the season

Real Madrid CF are ready to start the new season, and they are setting their sights on the first trophy of the 2022/23 campaign. On Wednesday night, the reigning UEFA Champions League winners will face UEFA Europa League title holders Eintracht Frankfurt in Helsinki to fight for the UEFA Super Cup.

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti held a press conference flanked by captains Karim Benzema and Luka Modric and spoke about their plans. After a successful 2021/22 campaign where Los Blancos won the Champions League, La Liga Santander and the Spanish Super Cup, they can double that haul to six trophies this season.

While it would be a dream to win all of the titles available to them, Ancelotti remains realistic. "We'll give our all in every competition, but for us to win all six will be difficult, really difficult," he said, as quoted by Marca. Apart from the UEFA Super Cup, Real Madrid are in the running for the following: FIFA Club World Cup, Supercopa de Espana, LaLiga Santander, Champions League and Copa del Rey.

Despite playing down their chances, he confirmed that he remains confident and that the current squad is even better than the one he had at his disposal last year.

He made a special mention of new signings Antonio Rudiger and Aurelien Tchouameni, who were the only two new arrivals this summer. "The connection between the veterans and youngsters should also be even better than last year, when it was already key," he added.

The club failed to sign strikers Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, who were thought to have been their top targets to ease the burden off Benzema in the attack.

Ancelotti admitted that they will just have to find a way to adapt if for some reason Benzema becomes unavailable. He added that it is tough to find a "substitute" for the Frenchman, whom he believes is "the best striker in the world."

He confirmed that his trust remains with the players he had last season, especially since they had won the Champions League together. This means that there will only be a few changes in his starting XI.

Meanwhile, Modric expressed his desire to play more even after being one of the most overworked players last season despite his age. At 36, the Croatian is still one of the most consistent players in the Real Madrid squad.

"As always, I just want to train well and be available. Age doesn't matter. What you do on the pitch is important," he said.

Benzema, who took over as club captain after the departure of Marcelo, spoke about the opportunity to be the one to led the team to more titles this year.

"I'm very proud to be captain, but the team is still the most important for me. I've always said that the collective trophies are more important than the individual ones," he said, perhaps dropping a hint about the Ballon d'Or, for which he remains the favourite to win this year.