By Mark Weasley
Manchester United and Real Madrid played an entertaining match that almost became a circus once it became time for penalty kicks, after regulation time finished 1-1.
Jesse Lingard had put his side ahead to continue his rich vein of form while Casemiro slotted in a 68th minute penalty following amateur defending from summer arrival, Victor Lindelof who committed a foul in the box.
Altogether, the match was interesting in what served as a dress rehearsal for the European Super Cup on August 8. We take a look at the things we learned from a Manchester United perspective.
United need to work on penalty kicks
Save for the heroics of David de Gea, Manchestar United should have lost the match, though the same could be said for Real Madrid. The Spanish international saved two penalties to ensure his team won but United lost three spot kicks and ahead of a season in which penalties would be needed to decide match, United need to practice spot kicks and improve on that aspect.
De Gea showed why he is one of the best keepers in the world, and amid reports that United are braced for a mammoth bid for Saturday’s opponents, De Gea must be kept at all costs.
Pereira and Fosu Mensah give Jose Mourinho options
There have been accusations labelled at Mourinho that he doesn’t believe in youth and on Saturday he proved it to be a fallacy as the pair of Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Andreas Pereira sufficiently impressed the manager and could feature prominently going into next season.
Pereira is an attacking midfielder that played on loan at Granada, but played deeper against the European Champions. With the likes of Matic and Dier moves stalling, Pereira could be a good option in that position next season. Fosu Mensah, who can act as a defensive midfielder, sufficiently impressed against the threat of Gareth Bale.
Martial is key into next season
Anthony Martial rang rings around arguably the world’s best right-back, Dani Carvajal, given the manner he played in the build up to Jesse Lingard’s goal.
The 21-year-old forward, who struggled to replicate his first season heroics last terms, struggled for consistency and form on numerous occasions last season. However, he showed his stuff against Madrid, as he delivered a master class; showing why United shelled a whopping £36m to sign him in 2015. United have been linked with Perisic the Inter Milan forward but with Lingard and Martial in fine form, United don’t need the 28-year-old.
