It wasn’t an easy task but Real Madrid came out on top in their Supercopa de Espana clash against arch-rivals Atletico Madrid, in Riyadh on Thursday. Mario Hermoso (6′) opened the scoring to give Atletico a 1-0 lead. But Antonio Rudiger (20′) equalised for Real to make it 1-1, followed by Ferland Mendy (29′) making it 2-1. Antoine Griezmann scored in the 37th-minute to make it 2-2, and also became Atletico’s highest goalscorer in history, across all competitions.
Rudiger scored an own goal in the 78th-minute and it looked like Atletico were edging towards a famous 3-2 win. But Dani Carvajal had other plans and the defender equaliser in the 85th-minute. The match ended 3-3 at full time and then goals from Joselu (116′), Brahim Diaz (120+2′) helped Real script a famous 5-3 win.
Here are the five takeaways from the match:
1. Real Madrid maintain dominance in Spain
Carlo Ancelotti’s side maintained their status as the strongest in Spain. The Spanish capital club also lead in La Liga, but are level on points with second-placed Girona and have a higher goal difference. Real will face either Barcelona or Osasuna in the final, who will face each other in the other semifinal on Friday.
2. Real Madrid boast strong squad depth
This season, Real Madrid boast extraordinary squad depth, consisting of experience and youngsters. Against Atletico, Real had the experience of Kepa Arrzabalaga, Nacho, Antonio Rudiger, Dani carvajal, Luka Modric. Meanwhile, the likes of Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior, Aurelien Tchouameni, Federico Valverde and Ferland Mendy are still young, but have plenty of experience. Then, they had the likes of Toni Kroos, Eduardo Camavinga, Joselu, Dani Ceballos, Brahim Diaz and Arda Guler on the bench.
3. Antoine Griezmann creates history
Griezmann created history with his goal, as overtook Luis Aragones to become Atletico’s all-time top-scorer with 174 goals, across all competitions. This was another laurel in the 2018 World Cup winner’s glittering career and the striker once again proved that he is very underrated and is one of the modern-day greats.
4. Brahim Diaz super sub
Brahim Diaz took up the super sub role for Real Madrid with much aplomb. Coming in the second-half, he almost won the game for Real in full time’s stoppage time. He beat two defenders, before chopping onto his right side, but dragged his shot narrowly round the wrong side of Jan Oblak’s right post. But then he got his goal in extra time after Joselu’s clearance towards the halfway line. Oblak had come up for the Atletico attack and had to run back. Diaz sped past the goalkeeper, touched the ball forward, before driving in a right-footed strike into an empty net from 35 yards out.
5. Carlo Ancelotti’s genius
Ancelotti once again proved that Real were right to give him a new contract. The Italian was at his tactical best, and made the right changes for Real. After full time, it looked like Atletico would take the match to penalties with Diego Simeone’s defensive changes. Ancelotti kept his nerves and made the right introductions. During extra-time, the match was settled by goals from substitutes Joselu and Diaz.