Manchester United enjoyed a successful debut season last term under the guidance of Jose Mourinho, winning the League Cup and the Europa League, but it’s no unfair to say the Red Devils will be eyeing further glory this season.

Victory on the European stage provided the avenue for Manchester United to return to the Champions League, despite their sixth-placed finish in the Premier League, and it presents the chance at another piece of silverware this evening.

In truth, winning the European Super Cup will not be top of Mourinho’s priorities for the new season and the Red Devils may actually prefer to not be involved in the Club World Cup towards the back-end of the year.

However, clashing with European powerhouses Real Madrid will give Mourinho the chance to assess where exactly Manchester United stand ahead of the new season and whether they genuinely have a chance of going toe-to-toe with the big boys in Europe.

Having won the Champions League three times in the past four years, Zinedine Zidane’s side stand as the biggest club in Europe at this time and they will certainly provide a testing opportunity this evening- especially to Romelu Lukaku, who’s yet to play in Europe’s elite competition.

Both Nemanja Matic and Victor Lindelof have experience in the competition previously, as does the majority of Manchester United’s squad- which means that the Red Devils should not have any problems in that aspect.

It’s clear that Real Madrid are far superior on the field though and it will be a stern tactical test for Mourinho if he’s to overcome his former employers, though winning may not be necessary as a strong performance could provide enough of a boost.

Whilst Manchester United would love to win another trophy, regardless of how many people perceive the Super Cup to be, getting a strong performance out of his new-look side is the target for Jose Mourinho this evening.

Eyes will be on Paul Pogba, David De Gea and Lukaku in particular, who must show they’re capable of enjoying a dominant performance amongst some of the best players the game has to offer- which will raise their importance.

Manchester United were by far the best team in the Europa League last season and the reality is the majority of their squad shouldn’t have been playing at that level. Now, with a return to the Champions League, they need to prove they’re players of the highest calibre.