Spanish giants Real Madrid are looking to kick off their official career in the new season, as they ended last May when they became European champions when they faced rivals Eintracht Frankfurt in the European Super Cup match at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki on Wednesday.

Real Madrid weren’t a strong candidate for a continental title last season, but fought off their play-off setback against Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City before defeating another English side, Liverpool , in the final with a clean goal.

The Royal team strengthened their record in the European Champions League by raising it to 14 titles, while its Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti held the record for most titles in the most important continental competition with four.

“We feel like no one should take our place and that’s a great incentive for us to keep winning,” Ancelotti said in a statement to UEFA’s website.

Ancelotti, who returned to the leadership of the capital club for the second time at the beginning of last season, managed to lead his team to victory in the Spanish championship for the thirty-fifth time in its history.

The Italian coach confirmed that he had great respect for his German rival, saying: “Eintracht Frankfurt achieved something special last season by winning the Europa League, especially since they were not a candidate.”

He added: “The team played great matches and managed to beat Barcelona in the last resort, adopting a great attacking style of play. This team will no doubt create problems for us.”

Real Madrid are playing the Supercopa for the eighth time in their history and have won it four times before, knowing that Ancelotti has never lost in it, which is why he was crowned head of Milan’s technical staff in 2003 and 2007 and with Real Madrid in 2014.

And Ancheloni felt that his team did not have an advantage, especially in terms of fitness, saying: “We have less advantage over Frankfurt, who started the season before us, but we will play to win.”

Frankfurt officially kicked off two weeks ago by participating in the first round of the German Cup before playing their first match in the Bundesliga, where they lost 1-6 to last ten season champions Bayern Munich. On the other hand, the Spanish League starts last weekend, where Real Madrid have so far played only test matches.

Frankfurt won their first continental title in 42 years when they beat Scotland’s Rangers on penalties in the Europa League final.

– ‘Respect, but not fear’ –

Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp says his team respects Real Madrid’s history but isn’t afraid to face it: “We want to be a tough team that fights and doesn’t give up. Of course, we have a lot of respect for the opponent, but we fight confrontation without fear.”

Trapp, one of the few with Frankfurt experience, along with Eindhoven newcomer Mario Götze, who scored the only goal for his country in Brazil’s World Cup final against Argentina in 2014, added: “Playing in the European Super Cup is the fruit of our success. last season. What happened to Real Madrid? We can’t ask for more at this time of the season.”

As for team coach Oliver Glasner, he said: “We are looking forward to meeting Real Madrid. This is one of the greatest teams in the history of football. We will prepare in the best possible way to improve our chances of winning.”