Lukaku in a mission to silence Doubters in the Super Cup against Real Madrid




Romelu Lukaku does not have warm memories of the Super Cup.
On as a substitute for Jose Mourinho's Chelsea in extra time against Bayern Munich in Prague in August 2013, it was the Belgian who missed the decisive penalty in the shootout. Two days later he was loaned to Everton.

That penalty, saved by Manuel Neuer, was supposed to be the moment Mourinho lost faith.
Mourinho would later explain it was Lukaku's decision to go, suggesting the striker wanted to be first-choice rather than fight for his place at Stamford Bridge.

Lukaku agreed, admitting: "I was 20 and I wasn't ready to be immediately effective in a top team."
The key to Lukaku's £75 million move to Manchester United is timing. Mourinho insists he has signed a player more mature than the one he let go four years ago.

 Lukaku, now 24, says he is ready to lead a Premier League title challenge and, for the first time, play in the Champions League.
The first test of whether or not they will be proved right will come on Lukaku's return to the Super Cup on Tuesday.

United face European champions Real Madrid in Macedonia looking to kick-start the new campaign with another trophy after collecting the Community Shield, EFL Cup and Europa League last season.


Romelu Lukaku, then at Chelsea, missed the decisive penalty in a shootout the last time he featured in the UEFA Super Cup.

It is also a chance for Lukaku to start answering some of the questions raised since he became the sixth most expensive footballer ever.

His ability to score goals is not in doubt. He has already scored 85 Premier League goals, 25 of them last season. He reached 20 goals in all competitions in each of his last three seasons.

The expectation, at least from United, is that those numbers should increase as he gets older, more experienced and surrounded by better players.

THE BIG ISSUE
The issue, though, is whether he can do it against the biggest teams. Since arriving in England from Anderlecht in 2011, Lukaku has played in 57 games against the top six -- Chelsea, Manchester City, Tottenham, Arsenal, Liverpool and United. In those 57 games, he has scored 15 goals. 
His best record is against Liverpool, scoring five goals in 11 appearances.

He is yet to score against Chelsea and failed to score in his last 10 games against United. His three goals against his new employers all came in the same game -- for West Brom in the 5-5 draw at the Hawthorns in Sir Alex Ferguson's last game in charge.

Of Lukaku's 25 league goals last season, 21 came against the bottom 13 teams. Mourinho may feel that is no bad thing after 10 home draws last season -- including those against Stoke, Burnley, West Ham, Hull, Bournemouth, West Brom and Swansea -- cost United a chance to challenge Chelsea for the title.

Still, Ryan Giggs has said Lukaku's first touch needs to improve while warning United's No.9 about "the pressure and the scrutiny" at Old Trafford.



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