Uefa Supercup Preview: Real Madrid-Feyenoord

Real Madrid will be aiming to win the Uefa Supercup for the first time in their history when they come up against Feyenoord in Monaco on Friday evening.

In 1998 the Merengues were beaten 1-0 by Chlesea thanks to a Gustavo Poyet goal, while two years ago they were unfortunate to lose 2-1 to Galatsasaray.

"This is our bogey trophy but we are determined to bring the cup back to Madrid this time," says full-back Michel Salgado.

Surprisingly given their massive outlay over the past two years, Real have failed to sign a single player this summer and with the transfer deadline fast approaching it looks as though Vicente Del Bosque will have to do with what he has. There is, though, speculation that Real will try one more time for Ronaldo, while a meeting is also said to be planned to discuss the signing of Monaco defender Rafa Marquez.

Just because no money has been spent, it doesn't mean the team won't have a fresh feel about it this season. Classy Argentine midfielder Esteban Cambiasso is back from a loan spell in his homeland, and should start this game, while young striking sensation Javier Portillo (scorer of almost 400 goals in official games for the club's youth teams) will see plenty of action in the new campaign.

Feyenoord can consider it a very profitable week indeed after qualifying for the Champions League with a superb 2-0 win over Fenerbahce in Turkey. The Superlig side were favourites for that tie in many people's eyes but Bert Van Marwijk's men showed that none of last season's team spirit and dedication had been lost.

Pierre Van Hooijdonk will once again be a key man for Feyenoord this season, but the big striker was one of a number of players who starred for Feyenoord in their successful Uefa Cup winning campaign last season. Shinji Ono had such a good finish that he looked a jaded and spent figure at the World Cup, while Newcaste and a number of English sides were impressed by Brett Emerton's input. What a shame for him that he missed the final through suspension.

This match is unprecedented in that if the sides end level after 90 minutes, we could be witness to just 15 minutes extra time. If a side score in that period, the team that conceded the goal will be given the remainder of that time to find an equaliser. The same applies to the second period of extra-time, so effectively if a side concedes in either period, they will be given a chance to draw level.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Real Madrid: 4-2-3-1: Casillas; Salgado, Hierro, Helguera, Roberto Carlos; Makelele, Cambiasso; Figo, Zidane; Raul, Morientes

Feyenoord: 4-4-2: Zoetebier; Gyan, Van Wonderen, Paauwe, Rzasa; Emerton, Bosvelt, Ono, Lurling; van Hooijdonk, Kalou