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| Asensio and Casilla among star men in Trondheim |
zinedine Zidane has won the UEFA Super Cup with six new faces to add to the 14 heroes who helped Real Madrid lift the Champions League trophy in Milan.
Kiko Casilla, Raphael Varane, Marco Asensio, Alvaro Morata, Mateo Kovacic and James Rodriguez were responsible for reaching for the skies in Trondheim on Tuesday alongside their teammates and they did not fail to deliver.
There had been many question marks over the starting XI in recent weeks with Cristiano Ronaldo ruled out from the start because of injury, Karim Benzema having a sore hip although he was able to play some minutes, with Gareth Bale and Toni Kroos falling at the final hurdle as a precaution.
The coach, therefore, had to find the answers in new faces as he had always made it clear he would not risk any player who was not totally prepared for the game, even if it meant finding a new XI in respect to the Champions League line-up.
Despite having key players absent, the Frenchman stuck with his plan and showed he has a team full of 'super subs'.
Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Dani Carvajal, Casemiro, Isco, Lucas Vazquez and Luka Modric have been in a privileged position to have played in both finals, with the coach having enough faith to make a string of changes in other positions.
As the BBC trident of Gareth Bale, Ronaldo and Benzema was unavailable, Asensio, Alvaro Morata, and Vazquez stepped into their shoes admirably to lead the line and claim the first title of the season.
It has been a relatively smooth start to the campaign with the first trophy already in the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu and one of the foundations of Zidane's project - to be able to spare unfit players - already vindicated by Tuesday's triumph.
The campaign may have just begun but they have shown that both the starting XI and the alternatives are more than prepared for anything the season throws at them.
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