Romelu Lukaku

In the record books, Lukaku’s name will be down as Manchester United's goalscorer and a footnote will nod to it coming on his full debut, but that will not tell the whole story. The Belgian can be happy with his strike but when he put his head on the pillow on Tuesday, he is more likely to think about the miss that preceded it 10 minutes earlier.

It was a gilt-edged opportunity, coming moments after Isco had doubled Madrid’s lead. Had he converted it, United’s rally in the final third of the match may have had more momentum. Instead, he had to wait to make amends, jumping on the rebound after Keylor Navas spilled Nemanja Matic's effort shortly after the hour mark.

A goal to remember then, but it on a difficult night. Lukaku appeared isolated much of the time, particularly in the first half and it seemed to affect him. There were a handful of easily avoidable mistakes, including one horrendously mistimed run in behind the Madrid defence that killed off a United attack after the Belgian being flagged offside.

Manchester United vs Real Madrid player ratings Show all 22 1 /22 Manchester United vs Real Madrid player ratings Manchester United vs Real Madrid player ratings David de Gea - 7 DUBLIN, IRELAND - AUGUST 02: David De Gea of Manchester United during the Aon Tour pre season friendly game between Manchester United and Sampdoria at Aviva Stadium on August 2, 2017 in Dublin, Ireland. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/MUFC/Man Utd via Getty Images) Man Utd via Getty Images Manchester United vs Real Madrid player ratings Antonio Valencia - 7 SKOPJE, MACEDONIA - AUGUST 08: Antonio Valencia of Manchester United and Isco of Real Madrid battle for possession during the UEFA Super Cup final between Real Madrid and Manchester United at the Philip II Arena on August 8, 2017 in Skopje, Macedonia. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images) Getty Images Manchester United vs Real Madrid player ratings Matteo Darmian - 6 Manchester United's Italian defender Matteo Darmian (R) vies with Real Madrid's Croatian midfielder Luka Modric during the UEFA Super Cup football match between Real Madrid and Manchester United on August 8, 2017, at the Philip II Arena in Skopje. / AFP PHOTO / ARMEND NIMANI (Photo credit should read ARMEND NIMANI/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Manchester United vs Real Madrid player ratings Victor Lindelof - 6 SKOPJE, MACEDONIA - AUGUST 08: Gareth Bale of Real Madrid attempts to get past Victor Lindelof of Manchester United during the UEFA Super Cup final between Real Madrid and Manchester United at the Philip II Arena on August 8, 2017 in Skopje, Macedonia. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images) Getty Images Manchester United vs Real Madrid player ratings Chris Smalling - 7 LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 14: Chris Smalling of Manchester United in action during the Premier League match between Mancheser United and Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on May 14, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by John Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images) Man Utd via Getty Images Manchester United vs Real Madrid player ratings Nemanja Matic - 7 Real Madrid's Spanish midfielder Isco (R) vies with Manchester United's Serbian midfielder Nemanja Matic during the UEFA Super Cup football match between Real Madrid and Manchester United on August 8, 2017, at the Philip II Arena in Skopje. / AFP PHOTO / Dimitar DILKOFF (Photo credit should read DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Manchester United vs Real Madrid player ratings Ander Herrera - 7 Real Madrid's German midfielder Toni Kroos (L) vies with Manchester United's Spanish midfielder Ander Herrera during the UEFA Super Cup football match between Real Madrid and Manchester United on August 8, 2017, at the Philip II Arena in Skopje. / AFP PHOTO / Robert ATANASOVSKI (Photo credit should read ROBERT ATANASOVSKI/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Manchester United vs Real Madrid player ratings Paul Pogba - 6 Manchester United's French midfielder Paul Pogba (R) prepares to kick the ball during the UEFA Super Cup football match between Real Madrid and Manchester United on August 8, 2017, at the Philip II Arena in Skopje. / AFP PHOTO / Robert ATANASOVSKI (Photo credit should read ROBERT ATANASOVSKI/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Manchester United vs Real Madrid player ratings Jesse Lingard - 6 Manchester United's English midfielder Jesse Lingard (R) vies with Real Madrid's Spanish defender Dani Carvajal during the UEFA Super Cup football match between Real Madrid and Manchester United on August 8, 2017, at the Philip II Arena in Skopje. / AFP PHOTO / Dimitar DILKOFF (Photo credit should read DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Manchester United vs Real Madrid player ratings Henrikh Mkhitaryan - 7 SKOPJE, MACEDONIA - AUGUST 08: Henrikh Mkhitaryan of Manchester United in action with Toni Kroos of Real Madrid during the UEFA Super Cup match between Real Madrid and Manchester United at Philip II Arena on August 8, 2017 in Skopje, Macedonia. (Photo by Matthew Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images) Man Utd via Getty Images Manchester United vs Real Madrid player ratings Romelu Lukaku - 7 HOUSTON, TX - JULY 20: Romelu Lukaku #9 of Manchester United gives a thumbs up to his teammate against Manchester City at NRG Stadium on July 20, 2017 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) Getty Images Manchester United vs Real Madrid player ratings Keylor Navas - 7 Getty Manchester United vs Real Madrid player ratings Dani Carvajal - 7 Getty Manchester United vs Real Madrid player ratings Raphaël Varane - 7 Getty Manchester United vs Real Madrid player ratings Sergio Ramos - 8 Getty Manchester United vs Real Madrid player ratings Marcelo - 6 Getty Manchester United vs Real Madrid player ratings Luka Modric - 7 Getty Manchester United vs Real Madrid player ratings Casemiro - 7 Getty Manchester United vs Real Madrid player ratings Toni Kroos - 7 Getty Manchester United vs Real Madrid player ratings Gareth Bale - 7 Getty Manchester United vs Real Madrid player ratings Karim Benzema - 7 Getty Manchester United vs Real Madrid player ratings Isco - 8 Getty

But then again, only that goal will go down in the record books. Lukaku’s United career is not off to a perfect start, but it is off to a scoring one.

Nemanja Matic

One of the few United players to emerge with credit, Matic’s display belied the fact that he had played just 45 minutes of football over the summer. Jose Mourinho claimed the midfielder was “available but not as available as the others” in his pre-match comments, yet he started him, trusting the Serbian ahead of Marouane Fellaini.

Matic may have lacked match fitness but he repaid his manager with another authoritative display, following on from his first United appearance in Dublin last week. The single black mark against him was a significant one: a slip in the build-up to Madrid’s second meant he lost track of scorer Isco. Still, Matic atoned by inadvertently assisting Lukaku after his own shot was parried by Navas.

His performance deserved it. Matic was not a transformative presence and could not do it all by himself, but he managed to stifle Madrid during some of their better moments, particularly during the first half.

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Victor Lindelof

As with all of these players, it remains too early to judge Victor Lindelof as he beds into life at Manchester United and the Swede deserves time to settle. Even so, it does not look like the summer signing from Benfica will make the same seamless start that Eric Bailly managed in the same position a year ago.

After several apprehensive showings in pre-season, Lindelof was just as unsure himself for the majority of the defeat in Skopje and questions will be asked over his part in Madrid’s second goal. Slow when needing to come out at meet Gareth Bale, he allowed the ball to be slipped in behind and was busy looking for the linesman’s flag while Isco applied the finish.