Cape Town - Cristiano Ronaldo has been named in Real Madrid’s squad to play former side, Manchester United in the UEFA Super Cup in Skopje.
The 32-year-old only returned to training at the weekend, but despite this coach Zinedine Zidane included the Portuguese international against his former club in the match at the Philip II Arena in the Macedonian capital.
"He needed to rest. He has had his holidays and that was important," said Zidane of the man whose two goals helped propel Madrid to a 4-1 victory over Juventus in the Champions League final in Cardiff two months ago.
That victory saw Real become the first club to retain the trophy in the Champions League era and completed a glorious campaign in which they also won La Liga.
Madrid shared a list of their 24-man travelling squad announcing on Twitter the names of the players who will be involved during the Super Cup.
Zidane will be aiming to give Ronaldo some minutes during the final if needed.
Kick off gets underway at 20:45.
?? #RealMadrid 2?4? ?? @ManUtd#RMSuperCup #RMMovistar pic.twitter.com/b0Drb0X3DO
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) August 7, 2017