To start with, Sheffield United take on Spanish side - hard to believe (7)

I believe the answer is:

surreal

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'hard to believe' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'to start with sheffield united take on spanish side' is the wordplay.
'to start with' indicates taking the first letters.
'take' becomes 'r' (abbreviation for 'recipe', Latin for 'take').
'on' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'spanish side' becomes 'real' (Real Madrid).
The initial letters of 'sheffield united' is 'su'.
'su'+'r'+'real'='SURREAL'

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(Other definitions for surreal that I've seen before include "Outlandish" , "strange" , "Dreamlike, bizarre" , "Like Dada image, perhaps" , "Odd" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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