Uefa Super Cup the first step as all-conquering Real Madrid resume trophy hunt

History places an obligation on the clubs who contest Wednesday's Uefa Super Cup to entertain. Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt have met only once before in a competitive context, but so thrilling was that encounter it was dubbed ‘Match of the Century’. The label stayed attached to the epic 1960 European Cup final, won 7-3 by Madrid, through most of the remaining years of the 20th century.

Ferenc Puskas scored four that day and Alfredo Di Stefano grabbed a hat-trick but Madrid had to impose their authority after falling behind. Modern Real also perform stirring comebacks: They are in Helsinki today by virtue of a fifth Champions League title in the last nine years, which they captured after a rollercoaster ride towards the final against Liverpool.

A reminder: Madrid were behind on the aggregate scoreline deep into each of their knockout ties: In the last 16 against Paris Saint-Germain, which featured five goals; in a quarter-final against Chelsea that had nine; and in the semi-final, where Madrid and Manchester City shared 11 goals.

Eintracht cultivated their own cliff-edge suspense on the way to claiming the Europa League, via a penalty shoot-out in the final against Glasgow Rangers. They had let leads slip in see-saw knockout ties against Real Betis and Barcelona, with whom they shared seven goals across the quarter-final. Ominously for the German club, the loose habits that were part of their adventure appear to have remained. Eintracht lost their opening match of the Bundesliga season at the weekend 6-1 to Bayern Munich.

Madrid will only begin their defence of their Spanish Liga title this Sunday but head coach Carlo Ancelotti insists that the Super Cup is no mere warm-up. “We have six titles in play this season