Having previously written on the history (and future) of Super Cup matches, it seems appropriate to offer up an account of the ten Super Cup matches that were played this season, beginning with the English FA’s Community Shield on the 10th of August and concluding with the final of the Supercopa de España last month.

Generally speaking, Northern Europe opted for one-off, season-opening matches, while Mediterranean Europe opted for mid-season mini-tournaments in the Middle East. Somewhere in between these categories, France had their initial plans of a pre-season opener in China scuttled, and had to reschedule a one-off, mid-season game in the Middle East.

What follows is a quick ranking of 24-25 Super Cup games (semifinals included) from worst to best. Overall, it was an entertaining batch of games.

10. Thurs., January 9th, 2025. Real Madrid 3 – Mallorca 0.

A better game than the scoreline suggests, as Real scored two of their goals in stoppage time, and even Bellingham’s winner didn’t come until shortly after the hour mark. But with credit to the overall quality of this year’s Super Cup line-up, this semifinal match wasn’t a must-see game.

9. Thurs., January 2nd, 2025. Internazionale 2 – Atalanta 0.

See also: 20′ Highlight

There was less of a quality gap here, but another semifinal match that didn’t reach the heights of other Super Cup games. Two goals from Denzel Dumfries saw Inter through.

8. Sat., August 10th, 2024. Manchester City 1 [7] – Manchester United 1 [6].

See Also: Full Match Replay

This opener of the Super Cup season was a dull game with an electrifying ending, all of the scoring coming in the final 10′ of regulation. Depending on how you watch and value games, this ending and the derby status of the game could reasonably push this one higher on the list (possibly to fifth?); but not for me.

7. Wed., January 8th, 2025. Athletic Bilbao 0 – Barcelona 2.

Barcelona won this game in the league 2-1, and did more or less the same in this semifinal match-up. It was a solid and enjoyable game, but with the expected outcome.

6. Sun., January 5th, 2025. Paris Saint-Germain 1 – AS Monaco 0.

The Trophée des Champions was originally scheduled to be played on August 10th in Bejing, but undisclosed issues with the host nation led to this mid-season rescheduling in Doha. Though it shared the late-scoring nature of the Manchester derby, Ousmane Dembélé’s winner coming in stoppage time, Monaco pushed PSG all the way to the end.

5. Wed., August 14th, 2024. Real Madrid 2 – Atalanta 0.

The UEFA Super Cup was the second of the Super Cup games played this season, and Atalanta pushed Real Madrid in the first half. In the end, though, Madrid scored a pair of second half goals, including Kylian Mbappé’s first goal for his new club–on his debut.

4. Fri., January 3rd, 2025. Juventus 1 – AC Milan 2.

See Also: 20′ Highlight

This was easily the best of the four semifinal games this year, with favorites Juventus taking a first half lead, only to be pegged back by Milan in the latter stages of the second half, but still with plenty of time to try and win it back. A solid affair, and an impressive first game in charge for Sérgio Conceição, who took over for Paulo Fonseca as Milan manager.

3. Sun., January 12th, 2025. Real Madrid 2 – Barcelona 5.

See also: 30′ Highlight, Full Match Replay

The last of this year’s Super Cup games was also the craziest. Initially, I had this much lower on my list, as it was questionable as a game. Barcelona had already beaten Real 4-0 at the Bernabeu in the first Clásico of the season–and in a better and more interesting game–so was this mess really very surprising? But as an event, it was definitely captivating.

Kylian Mbappé’s breakaway goal in the opening 5′ created the illusory possibility of a very different game; and while the lack of much cat-and-mouse tangling over Barcelona’s high line robbed the game of a tactical element (a generally misunderstood element, it must be said), the lack of apparent chances by Real Madrid made Barcelona’s five first-half goals in response all the more embarrassing.

Wojciech Szczęsny’s red card early in the second half and Rodrygo Silva’s lovely resulting free kick goal likewise kept the hint of an edge to a second half in which nothing much actually happened. Truthfully, this game could have been anywhere from eighth the third (which speaks to the quality of the other games as much as the craziness of this one). These last two games, however, were clearly the cream of the crop.

2. Sat., August 17th, 2024. Bayer Leverkusen 2 [5] – Stuttgart 2 [4].

See also: 4′ English Commentary Highlight

Xabi Alonso’s remarkable Bayer Leverkusen looked to continue on from their invincible 2023-24 season in this game, the first DFL-Supercup since 2011 not to include Bayern Munich. An early goal, created by William Tapsoba and tapped in by Victor Boniface provided a strong start for last year’s invincible champions; but almost immediately, Stuttgart’s Enzo Millot responded with an equalizer.

Things got much worse for Xabi Alonso’s men near the end of the first half, as new recruit Martin Terrier received a red card for a rash tackle on Ermedin Demirović, leaving Leverkusen a man down for the second half. Leverkusen defended stoutly, however, and it was still 1-1 when Sebastian Hoeneß made a triple substitution at the hour mark. With effectively their first touches of the ball, two of those subs combined to put Stuttgart ahead, Frans Krätzig crossing in for Denis Undav to slot home from close range.

Alonso gave his starters a few more minutes before initiating a triple change of his own, as Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, and Patrik Schick came on. But with just over 5′ left in regulation, Leverkusen still trailed. With his final substitution, Alonso brought on Alex Grimaldo. 2′ later, Grimaldo played Schick into the box to level the game and send it to penalties. There, Lukas Hradecky tempted Krätzig toward his left and made the save, with Silas Katompa-Muvumpa missing an effort that would have forced a fifth kick from Leverkusen to win. Another come-from-behind victory for last year’s Champions was a fantastic season opener.

1. Mon., January 6th, 2025. Internazionale 2 – AC Milan 3.

See also: 20′ Highlight

Though probably set up with a Derby d’Italia in mind, this year’s Supercoppa Italiana final offered a Derby della Madonnina instead, the second of the season. Despite AC Milan having won that previous meeting, Inter were undoubtedly the favorites in this match, sitting a point off top spot with a game in hand against Napoli and Atalanta while their crosstown rivals were struggling in mid-table. It was the Rossoneri, however, who had the more threatening start, and indeed were probably the better team throughout the first half.

Nonetheless, it was Lautaro Martínez who scored in first half stoppage time for Inter, benefitting from a quick thrown-in to spark a break, but still with plenty of work to do on his own once he received the ball on the far side of the box. Then, at the start of the second half, Medhi Taremi, who was stepping in for Marcus Thuram, injured in the semifinal match, received a long ball out from the back that put him through on goal, and he passed it in at the right post to double Inter’s lead.

Following that goal, Sérgio Conceição brought on Rafael Leão, and straightaway he won a free kick for AC Milan just outside the box. Theo Hernández spotted Inter keeper Yann Sommer cheating right, and put the free kick left of the wall and in at the left post, nominally if not in fact the keeper’s side. That pulled AC Milan back within one, and with just under 40 minutes left to play.

From there, the initiative shifted to AC Milan, who had the better of the game with Inter looking to absorb pressure and attack on the counter. Their best chance came from Leão blowing into the box behind Yann Bisseck and cutting it back for Tijani Reijnders with the goal at his mercy, only to have his effort blocked by Alessandro Bastoni. Still trailing by a goal, Conceição brought on Tammy Abraham for a final push. Almost immediately, Leão played Hernández up the left flank, while Abraham made a near post run in the box to create space for Hernández to cross in for Christian Pulisic. He still had work to do, producing an excellent right post equalizer from within a clutch of Inter players.

From there, Inter burst into action, looking the more likely to win outright in the final 10 minutes of regulation. But in stoppage time, Pulisic placed a brilliant long pass from midfield into the box to feed Leão to left post. He squared it inside for Abraham to tap in, capping off an extraordinary come-from-behind victory for the underdogs. In only his second game in charge of the Rossoneri, Conceição won his first silverware for the club.