Real Madrid manager Julen Lopetegui is confident that Gareth Bale can make a decisive impact for the European champions as the season progresses. The Wales international had played second fiddle to Cristiano Ronaldo in the attack front over the past five seasons but he has now got the opportunity to make his mark with the Portuguese superstar heading to Juventus.

Speaking after Los Blancos’ European Super Cup defeat, Lopetegui said: “Gareth Bale played very well, but I’m expecting he will get much better. It is normal in this moment of the season that the players are not in their peak physical shape so we know there is a lot more to come from Gareth and all the others. We are very happy with his performance and we hope he will continue to improve to make a decisive impact in the next matches.”

Bale had been in the goals for Real Madrid during pre-season but he could not quite replicate the feat in the European Super Cup where they succumbed to a 4-2 defeat to Atletico Madrid. .Nevertheless, there were positives from the fact that the Welshman contributed an assist during the game whilst he managed to last the entire 120 minutes despite his fitness concerns in the past.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid have got somewhat of a wake-up call after suffering a rare final defeat to their cross-town rivals but Lopetegui has stressed that the loss won’t change their policy before the transfer deadline. The Capital outfit were tipped to make a potential Galactico signing to replace Ronaldo but as things stand, the plans appear to have been halted with Lopetegui comfortable with the current crop of players.

The Champions League holders have pursued six players during the ongoing transfer window with the most high-profile of them being Thibaut Courtois, who swapped Chelsea for a return to Madrid. The Belgium goalkeeper was not involved during the Super Cup defeat to Atleti but he should make the lineup for the opening game of the league campaign.