And then Atletico come up to get their winners medals ... and lift the Super Cup! It’s the seventh trophy Atletico have won under Diego Simeone. Diego Godin hoists it into the sky, and the players do that bouncy thing while spitting out bits of shiny ticker tape. They’ve earned the right to party: a thoroughly deserved victory. Could this be the year they finally get that Champions League monkey off their backs? It’ll take a damn fine team to stop them. Congratulations to Atletico; commiserations to Real. If the European season continues in this fashion, we’re in for a good one. Nighty night, and sweet dreams!
It might only be the Super Cup, but this means something. Atletico have never got one over on Real in Europe; this is the first time they’ve come out on top. They celebrate accordingly ... while Real look grim to a man. They wanted this badly as well, but have come off second best in a European final, something that doesn’t happen to them all that often. Words will no doubt be written about the Cristiano Ronaldo shaped hole in their side, but they were simply outperformed tonight by one of the best teams in Europe. Real go up to get their silver medals hung round their necks. Quite a few whip the medal off immediately. They’re not used to this bit.
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Quite a few Atletico players have a claim to be the man of the match. Diego Godin was imperious at the back; Angel Correa came on and proved a constant menace; Saul Niguez and Koke scored wonderful goals in extra time. But their star turn tonight was unquestionably Diego Costa, who scored a sensational opener, got Atletico back into the game, and hassled fellow panto villain Sergio Ramos all night with his relentless battling. He’s such an entertaining player to watch ... unless you happen to support the side he’s bothering, of course. But that’s football for you. He was magnificent tonight.
EXTRA TIME, FULL TIME: Real Madrid 2-4 Atletico Madrid (aet; 2-2 after 90 mins)
Atletico Madrid win the 2018 Super Cup! The Europa League champions maintain their 100 percent record in this competition. They were fully deserved winners of an excellent game of football!
ET 30 min +1: One corner leads to another. But Godin and Savic aren’t to be beaten.
ET 30 min: Modric has a frustrated blast from the edge of the area, just to the right of the D. His shot hits the back of Godin. Corner.
ET 29 min: Carvajal and Modric proble down the right, but there’s no gaps in the red line across the front of the Atletico box.
ET 28 min: Vitolo goes down with cramp. Then he gets up. The clock ticks on, Atletico’s friend.
ET 27 min: Marcelo pearls a pacy cross into the Atletico box from the left. Ramos is haring into the area, hoping to get a head on it. Godin knocks it out for a corner. One corner leads to another, but nothing much comes of either of them.
ET 25 min: A free kick for Real out on the right. They load the box. Modric takes. Gimenez clears easily. Real look out of ideas.
ET 24 min: Carvajal crosses from the right. Godin clears. The ball drops to Modric on the edge of the area. It pinballs through a crowd but doesn’t deceive Oblak, who gathers on the line.
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ET 22 min: Ramos is booked for a fairly blatant bodycheck on Saul Niguez.
ET 21 min: Another mistake by Varane, who is suffering a big World Cup hangover tonight, lets Vitolo in down the left. Carvajal does well to cover. Vitolo twists and turns in the area. He’s half clipped by Carvajal, but opts not to go down. He might have had a penalty there, you know.
ET 20 min: Partey slips a pass down the right for the ever-busy Correa. But the striker’s got no fuel in the tank, and opts to hold the ball up awhile instead, before blootering it off into space. He’s been excellent since coming on.
ET 19 min: Jose Maria Gimenez replaces the quite magnificent Diego Costa. In the battle of brilliant pantomime villains, he’s had the better of Sergio Ramos tonight. He leaves the pitch before he manages to get himself that second yellow card.
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ET 18 min: Ramos clatters into the back of Correa, who makes sure to take a while to get back up. Ramos tries to pick him up a couple of times, but the striker isn’t having it.
ET 17 min: Diego Costa, on the right, crosses deep for Vitolo. He’s clear. He just needs to chest down softly to tee himself up for a shot ... but gets it all wrong. Varane closes him down.
And we’re off again! The final period of extra time begins. Can the European champions find the two goals they need to force a penalty shoot-out?
EXTRA TIME, HALF TIME: Real Madrid 2-4 Atletico Madrid
Well that double whammy came out of nowhere.
ET 15 min +3: Vitolo is booked for not retreating ten yards at a Real free kick. From the set piece, Correa robs Ceballos and Atletico break upfield! Correa slips the ball to Partey on his right: they’re both clear on goal! But Partey loses his balance as he bursts forward, performs a slapstick shuffle, then falls on his face! A comic moment.
ET 15 min +1: Carvajal and Costa roll off the pitch in a ball. Carvajal springs up with a view to throwing hands. Vitolo stands in between the pair to act as peacemaker. Costa is pressing buttons; Real are losing their heads in the wake of that quickfire double.
GOAL! Real Madrid 2-4 Atletico Madrid (Koke 104)
Costa barges Carvajal out of the way and makes off down the left. He cuts the ball back for Vitolo, who rolls it across the face of the box for Koke. Koke opens his body and sidefoots into the bottom-left corner. Another gorgeous finish!
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ET 12 min: Toni Kroos is replaced by Borja Mayoral.
ET 11 min: Modric is booked for waving his arm in Lucas Hernandez’s face.
ET 10 min: That was a proper belter! Real look shocked; for the second time tonight, Varane has been caught snoozing, and cost his team a goal. It’s most unlike a wonderful defender.
GOAL! Real Madrid 2-3 Atletico Madrid (Saul Niguez 98)
What a sensational goal! Costa robs a sleepy Varane on the edge of the Real box. He slips the ball to Partey down the inside-left channel. Partey reaches the byline, and pulls the ball back to the penalty spot. Saul Niguez spins and sends a first-time left-foot shot into the top right, leaving Navas no chance!
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ET 6 min: Carvajal earns another corner on the right. The ball’s worked to the other flank for Marcelo, who claps it clumsily out of play. It’s all Real, though they’re not getting anywhere near Oblak.
ET 5 min: Ceballos rolls an inviting ball down the left for Marcelo, who romps into space and earns a corner. From the set piece, the ball’s worked out to Carvajal, who sends a looping shot goalwards from 25 yards. It sails softly down Oblak’s throat.
ET 3 min: Real are pressing Atletico back. Lucaz Vazquez finds a bit of space down the right but his cross is headed firmly away from danger by Godin.
ET 2 min: Real ping it around quite a lot, but go absolutely nowhere. A little increase in tempo, though. “Daft mistake by Marcelo?” asks Peter Oh. “The face-buried-in-hands photo of him in your preamble was prophetic!”
And we’re off again! Real get the ball rolling for the first period of extra time. Both managers have already made three subs, but as in the World Cup, they are permitted one more in extra time. “Dundee United managed to find a winner, it’s 3-2 at Tannadice!” reports Simon McMahon. “Beat that, Super Cup.”
FULL TIME: Real Madrid 2-2 Atletico Madrid
We’re this close to a sensational end to the game! Space for Bale down the left. He floats a cross into the box for Marcelo, who attempts to bicycle kick one into the net, in the style of the dear, departed Cristiano Ronaldo. He can only hoof the ball onto his own hand as he spins through the air. And that’s literally the last kick of the 90! We’re going to extra time! I hope these teams have some good isotonic bevvies, because everyone looked utterly spent during the last ten minutes.
90 min +2: These lads are kaput. Nobody will be looking forward to the upcoming 30 minutes of extra time.
90 min +1: Ceballos is booked for a late clip on Correa.
90 min: Thomas Lemar, who has been disappointing tonight, is replaced by Thomas Partey. There will be three minutes of added time.
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89 min: Correa wins a long ball on the edge of the Real box. He nearly finds space to shoot, but lays it off to Costa on his inside. Costa has a window to shoot, but hesitates and a chance to win the cup with a hat-trick goal is gone.
88 min: Correa drops deep and slides a ball down the inside-right channel for Costa, who goes to early. The flag goes up for offside. A bit of patience there, and Real could have been in a lot of trouble.
86 min: These two teams already look knackered. Goodness knows what extra time will be like. Can somebody find a dramatic late winner?
84 min: Lucas Vazquez earns a corner on the right off his namesake Lucas Hernandez. The set piece comes to nothing, as Ramos is penalised for pushing.
83 min: Marcelo is bundled over, out on the Real left. A chance for Real to load the box. Before the free kick can be taken, Isco is replaced by Lucas Vazquez. Then the set piece is wasted.
81 min: That was a daft mistake by Marcelo, and now Atletico have their tails up! Juanfran nearly releases Costa down the right, but the flag goes up for offside. Neither team will fancy the prospect of extra time so early in the season; expect a hell-for-leather final ten minutes!
GOAL! Real Madrid 2-2 Atletico Madrid (Costa 79)
Make that two! Marcelo juggles the ball out on the Atletico right, trying to keep a ball in play. All he achieves is the gifting of the ball to Juanfran, who tears off towards the box. He cuts it back for Correa, who fizzes it low into the six-yard box, where Costa blasts home!
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78 min: Juanfran tries to release Correa down the right. But his pass is a real clanker and that’s a goal kick. Atletico have had one shot on target since Costa’s 49-second goal.
76 min: Indeed no. He’s replaced by Dani Ceballos.
75 min: Casemiro goes down, feeling a leg. Not sure he’ll be able to continue.
73 min: Lemar has been quiet, but he picks up the ball deep and caresses it wide right for Juanfran, who finds Correa down the channel. Correa looks for Diego Costa in the middle with a low first-time cross. Navas gathers, but that was better by the Europa League champions.
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72 min: Another change by Diego Simeone: Vitolo comes on for Rodri.
71 min: Bale romps right to left, a determined run that earns a corner. From the set piece, Varane tries to meet a cross first time and sidefoot home from the penalty spot. It’s heading goalwards, but blocked by Saul Niguez. Modric sends the loose ball miles over the bar.
69 min: A free kick for Atletico, 30 yards from the Real goal. Koke sends it into the mixer, but that’s not going to cause many problems. It’s easily cleared. Lucas Hernandez comes back at Real, crossing deep from the left. Too deep. Goal kick. Atletico haven’t really achieved much since going behind.
67 min: A bit of space for Bale down the left. He belts a low shot towards the near post. Oblak isn’t going to be beaten there, and parries.
65 min: Ramos and Costa battle for a ball down the Atletico right. Ramos slides in to concede a throw; Costa stands on the back of his neck as he runs and his opponent falls. Consider it performance art. The referee considers sending Costa off, by showing him a second yellow, but it looks as though Ramos has calmed the situation down. They are Spain colleagues, of course.
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GOAL! Real Madrid 2-1 Atletico Madrid (Ramos 63 pen)
Ramos performs a little Pogba shuffle, before slotting the ball confidently into the bottom right. Textbook. The Real captain performs a big-leggy strut by way of celebration.
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Penalty for Real Madrid!
62 min: Bale earns a corner on the right. The set piece is sent long. Juanfran tries to head the ball away from Benzema, but handles instead. That was clumsy, and a no-brainer for the referee. Diego Costa is booked for arguing the toss.
61 min: Correa is booked for kneeing Casemiro in the coccyx. Ow! Meanwhile here’s Simon McMahon: “If the European Super Cup is lacking in atmosphere, I’m sure your other reader may be interested to know that in the Scottish Challenge Cup First Round (North), Dundee United are currently trailing 2-0 to St Johnstone under 21’s in front of one man and his dog at Tannadice. Where’s Russ Abbott when you need him?” The grass is always greener, isn’t it.
60 min: Bale has a bit of space in the middle of the park; he opens his legs and goes for it. At full pelt, he tries to drop a shoulder and make a fool of Godin. Bad idea: he’s clattered to the floor, and legally too. Oof.
58 min: Atletico make a change too. French World Cup hero Antoine Griezmann was beginning to toil, so he’s hooked in favour of Angel Correa.
57 min: This hasn’t been much of a spectacle since the restart. With this in mind, Real send on the best player of the 2018 World Cup. Here comes Luka Modric, in place of Marco Asensio.
56 min: Kroos handles as Juanfran tries to power down the right. It’s a free kick to Atletico, 30 yards from goal. Griezmann curls it in ... to nobody in particular. What a waste.
54 min: Marcelo is booked for coming through the back of Juanfran. He’s not happy about it, but it was clumsy enough.
52 min: Atletico enjoy their first prolonged period of possession of the match. They don’t do much with the ball, but it’s a marked change in tone to the first half.
50 min: Lemar goes over and has his hand accidentally trodden on by Casemiro. It’s a stinger, nothing more, but he needs a quick bit of attention before we restart. This half hasn’t got going yet.
49 min: It’s a slow, bitty match right now. Not much of an atmosphere with quite a few fans yet to retake their seats. Tum-te-tum.
47 min: Koke spins into space and flicks a ball forward for Griezmann, who nearly shuttles it down the inside-right channel to release Costa. But Varane steps in to cover.
And we’re off again! Real get the party restarted. No changes.
Half-time reading: Know your enemy.
HALF TIME: Real Madrid 1-1 Atletico Madrid
And there it is! A decent half of football, considering the La Liga season hasn’t started yet. Real have had more possession, but on balance the scoreline seems about right. Nicely poised for the second half. Don’t go anywhere!
44 min: Real hog the ball but go nowhere in particular. A sense that everyone’s just waiting for the half-time whistle.
42 min: A wonderful Beckenbauer-style strut down the middle of the field by Rodri. He’s got Costa to his right, but hangs on to the ball too long and is eventually stripped of it. Youthful indecision, but for a while a showcase of the rangy midfielder’s great promise.
40 min: Bale sashays in from the right touchline and sends a screamer towards the bottom-right corner. It’s not far wide, though Oblak had it covered anyway. “One measure of how much or little a player is missed is whether there seem to gaps in the pitch which he would have occupied, but now look unpopulated,” writes Charles Antaki. “That doesn’t seem to be the case here - the Real players seem to be much closer to each other, and it would be hard to see where Ronaldo would actually squeeze in. (He would probably manage to find a way, it must be said.)”
39 min: Juanfran robs Casemiro to the right of the Real box. The ball breaks to Costa, who can’t get a shot away, but makes do with a corner. From the set piece, Godin heads tamely into the arms of Navas.
37 min: Real look much the more likely to score the next goal. Isco and Marcelo nearly combine down the left, but the one-two doesn’t quite come off.
35 min: Marcelo earns a corner down the left. Isco claims a foul on the edge of the area, but he’s not getting it. Real allow Atletico to burst upfield on the counter. Costa is about to bomb into space down the middle but has his heels clipped by Asensio. That’s the first yellow card of the evening.
34 min: Bale, in acres down the left, sends a cross into the centre. Asensio is free, just to the right of the D! But he takes far too long to tee himself up. He offloads to Benzema, but Atletico swarm and the chance is gone.
33 min: Atletico show in the Real half for the first time in a while. Costa and Koke flick the ball back and forth, sheer determination and physical presence nearly busting a hole down the middle of the Real defence. But Casemiro arrives to blooter clear, just as it looks like Koke might break through.
31 min: Real are beginning to purr now. An awful lot of possession. Their opponents can’t get a sniff, they’re second to everything. Bale and Carvajal combine down the right and nearly unpick Atletico. Not quite.
29 min: It’s nearly two goals in two minutes, as Asensio romps past Lemar down the left and cuts infield. He curls past Oblak, who is beaten, but the ball sails just wide of the right-hand post. That would have been a picture. Hats off to Casemiro for setting Asensio away, having broken up an Atletico attack.
GOAL! Real Madrid 1-1 Atletico Madrid (Benzema 27)
It’s fair to say this had been coming. And it’s really simple. Bale turns on the jets down the right. He then sends a stunning deep cross to the far post, cutting out Oblak. Benzema’s there to head back across Oblak, desperately chasing the ball, and into the net. That’s some cross, and a fine finish. It takes something special to make a keeper like Oblak look totally impotent.
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25 min: Marcelo cuts in from the left and sends a shot high over the bar from 25 yards. Real are beginning to dominate, though: just before that effort, Ramos sent a glorious crossfield pass, left to right, towards Benzema, who very nearly dribbled his way from the flank to the box in the style of Diego Maradona. Not quite, he was eventually crowded out. But that was some good football.
23 min: Casemiro is robbed 25 yards from his own goal by Griezmann. He’s very fortunate that the Atletico striker doesn’t manage to launch an attack. That was uncharacteristically sloppy by Real standards.
21 min: Now Lucas Hernandez and Bale come together. Bale holds his knee in some pain, Lucas having clattered him from behind. He gets up to continue, though only after a little bit of ginger hopping.
19 min: Ramos and Costa clash heads accidentally in the midfield, and both look to be in some pain. The magic sponge is applied, and they’ll be good to continue. But this is already shaping up to be quite the physical battle.
17 min: How on earth did Real fail to score here? Marcelo tricks his way past Juanfran on the left. His low fizzer towards the near post is flicked on neatly by Asensio, and rolls across the face of goal, a couple of yards out. Oblak gets a hand to it as it passes him, which is just enough to confuse Benzema, who isn’t in the right place to tap in. Atletico clear. So close to the equaliser.
16 min: A free kick for Atletico, just inside the Real half. Lemar tries to find Grizemann down the insid-right channel with what is clearly a training-ground routine, but overhits the pass and that’s a goal kick.
14 min: Bale earns a free kick out on the Real left, his skills too much for Koke. Real load the box. Kroos lumps it in, but it’s dealt with easily enough by Atletico. A really nice, open, end-to-end feel about this glorified friendly curtain-raiser to the European season.
13 min: Real are beginning to see more of the ball now. Pass, pass, pass. But suddenly Atletico intercept, and Koke very nearly sends Lemar clear down the right. Ramos intercepts brilliantly. He might be a saucy get sometimes, but what a defender.
12 min: Real win their first corner of the evening, as Asensio’s cross is blocked out of play. Marcelo takes it quickly ... too quickly. The European champions haven’t got going yet.
10 min: Kroos tries to set Bale off down the right, but the move is stopped thanks to a wonderful interception-stroke-tackle by Lucas.
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8 min: Sergio Ramos goes up for a high ball, and his elbow crumps into Diego Costa’s eye socket. Not sure he needed to make that particular action with his arm in order to jump. Oh Sergio! The referee gives him a good talking-to, which suggests he at least had his suspicions. Ramos acts innocent. Say what you like about him, you know what you’re getting.
6 min: Real have hardly touched the ball. There’s another long ball played down the right for Costa. This time Varane’s over to head clear. He read the danger well there, albeit five minutes and 11 seconds too late.
4 min: And now Atletico win a corner down the right. Nothing comes of it, but Real really need to wake up.
2 min: Really not sure Navas should have been beaten from such a tight angle at his near post. Then again, Costa absolutely battered that shot past him. Varane certainly didn’t cover himself in glory either.
GOAL! Real Madrid 0-1 Atletico Madrid (Costa 49 sec)
Costa flicks on Godin’s long pass, and chases after it himself, down the inside-right channel. He powers past Varane, who must still be dreaming of the World Cup. He’s faced with an exceptionally tight angle, but no matter: he lashes it past Navas, guarding the near post, and that’s the quickest-ever goal in the Super Cup!
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And we’re off! Atletico get the match underway. It’s launched long, but Diego Costa can’t win the high ball. Godin has another long look for Costa, though. And ...
The teams are out! The European champions are in their world-famous meringue-white kit; the Europa League winners sport their mattress-matching red-and-white striped shirts and blue strides. It’s an aesthetic delight! The Lillekula Stadium roars in anticipation; we’ll be off in a minute.
A shot of Marcelo, outside the Real dressing room, geeing himself up for the match. And you thought this was just a meaningless, glorified pre-season friendly. He’s in the zone all right. Either that or he’s only just found out Ronaldo’s upped sticks for Turin.
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This is what Real Madrid are missing now Cristiano Ronaldo has gone to Juventus. In his nine seasons at the club, he scored 450 goals. Not a bad return seeing he only made 438 appearances. His season hauls are frankly preposterous: 33, 53, 60, 55, 51, 61, 51, 42 and 44. He scored 44 hat-tricks, and won four Champions Leagues. To be fair, Gareth Bale isn’t too shabby a replacement. But even so, dearie me. A new era, scary and exciting for Real in equal measures, I’ll be bound. And we haven’t even mentioned Zinedine Zidane and Julen Lopetegui.
There’s a familiar look to Real Madrid, even if Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t around any more. All 11 of tonight’s starters played some part or other in Real’s 3-1 win over Liverpool in Kiev last May. Hopefully at some point we’ll get to see 18-year-old striker Vinicius Junior, newly purchased from Flamengo; he’s on the bench. Alvaro Odriozola, the defender bought from Real Sociedad, is sidelined with a groin injury, while former Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois is still resting after a hectic World Cup with Belgium.
Atletico thrust two of their new signings straight into action. Former Monaco winger Thomas Lemar, and Rodri, their new central midfielder from Villarreal, are in Diego Simeone’s starting XI.
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The teams
Real Madrid: Navas, Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo, Kroos, Casemiro, Isco, Bale, Benzema, Asensio.
Subs: Casilla, Lunin, Nacho, Modric, Lucas, Llorente, Borja Mayoral, Ceballos, Valverde, Vinicius Junior, Reguilon, Sanchez.
Atletico Madrid: Oblak, Juanfran, Savic, Godin, Lucas, Lemar, Rodri, Saul, Koke, Costa, Griezmann.
Subs: Adan, Dos Santos, Filipe Luis, Arias, Thomas, Kalinic, Correa, Gelson Martins, Vitolo, Gimenez, Olabe del Amo.
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland).
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Super preamble
Welcome to Tallinn, Estonia, and the first one-city showdown in Super Cup history! The European champions Real Madrid take on the Europa League winners Atlético Madrid ... and it’s fair to say history is on the side of Los Merengues.
Real have faced Atlético on five occasions in Europe. They’ve emerged victorious from them all. In 1958-59, Alfredo Di Stéfano and Ferenc Puskás scored the goals that saw off Enrique Collar and Atlético in a European Cup semi-final replay. Fifty-five years later, Diego Godín looked to have settled the 2014 final ... but Sergio Ramos popped up with a last-gasp equaliser, and Real romped to a 4-1 extra-time win.
At which point Real got a taste for piling on the hurt. A year later, Javier Hernández’s late winner saw off Atlético in the quarters. In 2016, Real prevailed in the final again, this time on penalty kicks. And finally in 2017, Cristiano Ronaldo’s semi-final, first-leg hat-trick proved insurmountable for Los Colchoneros.
On the flip side, Atlético have never lost in the Super Cup. Played two, won two, a 2-0 victory over Internazionale in 2010, and a 4-1 rout of Chelsea in 2012. So it’s swings and roundabouts.
Real will join Milan and Barcelona as five-time Super Cup champions if they win tonight. Their record in this competition is played six, won four. Their victories came against Feyenoord (2002), Sevilla (2014 and 2016) and Manchester United last year; their defeats were suffered against Chelsea in 1998 and Galatasaray in 2000. Can they reach the top of this roll of honour? Or will Atlético move one step closer to their rivals?
5: Barcelona, Milan
4: REAL MADRID
3: Liverpool
2: Ajax, Anderlecht, Valencia, Juventus, ATLÉTICO MADRID
1: Sevilla, Porto, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Dynamo Kyiv, Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Aberdeen, Steaua București, Mechelen, Parma, Lazio, Galatasaray, Zenit Saint Petersburg
We’ll find out soon enough! Kick off is at 10pm local time, 8pm BST. It’s on!
