MADRID, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid play for the first official trophy of the season on Tuesday with several questions to be answered following what has so far been an underwhelming pre-season.
The Champions League holders take on last season's Europa League winners Manchester United in Skopje.
As well as deciding the first official trophy of the 2017-18 season the game has the added spice of seeing Real Madrid take on a side coached by former Real Madrid boss, Jose Mourinho, a man who polarized opinion among fans and who would no doubt love to get one over his former club.
Cristiano Ronaldo is included in the Madrid squad despite only returning to training at the start of last week and will probably wait for his chance from the bench.
The Madrid attack will be under the spotlight with Gareth Bale under pressure to perform after a disappointing US tour and rumors of Madrid's interest in signing Monaco's teenage striker Kylian M'bappe, while Karim Benzema also needs a goal to silence the doubters.
In contrast Marcos Asensio can expect a place in Zinedine Zidane's starting 11 after arguably being Madrid's best player of the summer and his progress only serves to make life harder for Bale, Benzema and even Isco, who was on fine form at the end of last season.
Zidane also has some worries about his defense which is now without the veteran Pepe, allowing Rafael Varene to partner Sergio Ramos in the heart of the Madrid back line.
Once again neither Ramos not Varene have looked comfortable over the summer and they will need to be at their best to stop Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku.
The two sides have already met this pre-season with a farcical penalty shoot-out deciding their meeting in the US which had ended 1-1 after 90 minutes.
That game was played after only a fortnight's training and with both teams making wholesale changes, Tuesday should see something more serious and give a pointer of what we can expect when Madrid take on their eternal rivals, Barca, in the first leg of the Spanish Supercup this coming Sunday.
