It was a perfect end to a crazy match: eight goals, two of which were truly outstanding. Griezmann setting the club’s goalscoring record, and Rüdiger scoring at both ends were some of the highlights of the night.
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Highlights from Spanish Super Cup
It had been evident from the beginning that it was going to be an interesting match in the Spanish Super Cup, especially in the play that resulted in the first goal: constructed deep in one half and completed in the other, it involved Koke, Griezmann, the outstanding Rodrigo de Paul, and Samuel Lino, whose curler Kepa pushed wide.
Hermoso stood alone after Griezmann’s corner kick and headed Atlético into the lead.
Real boxed Atlético in again, this time from their own left corner to Real’s left-hand post. Marcos Llorente’s ball found Álvaro Morata, whose shot hit the side-netting.
Real struggled to gain control in the early stages, but Atlético was well aware of their determination to give up and quickly took the lead.
Jude Bellingham deflected a shot over, and Rüdiger headed in from the corner, Luka Modric took the shot. This goal reminded the fans of the European Cup final in Lisbon when Modric was the taker of the corner goal.
Rodrygo created another magical moment when he quickly shifted his weight and feet to leave José María Giménez on the floor.
Oblak, too, was falling the opposite way, but he managed to rescue himself with his legs, gratefully catching the ball as it appeared to spin past the line.
It was Lino’s 14th shot in a fantastic first half, nine of which were on target, and as the second half began, he fired another just past the post. Following a fast Vinícius free-kick, Carvajal had a chance to score but Oblak blocked his close-range volley.
Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid opted to play for an extra half-hour just for fun, scoring three goals each to force a sixth consecutive derby knockout tie into overtime.
Even if the game slowed, the drama would still increase. Atlético regained the lead 12 minutes from time with a weird and funny goal. Kepa rushed over Morata to try to punch a cross, but all he could do was divert it down onto Rüdiger’s leg and back into his net. The custodian complained that he had been fouled, but his reaction was that of an ashamed man clutching at straws – which he also failed to cling onto.
In the eleventh minute, Brahim Díaz made a breakaway and curved the ball into an empty net, causing his teammates to rush onto the field and into the Spanish Super Cup final.
Vinícius entered the area with six minutes remaining by zooming to the left. Oblak saved his first shot, Savic blocked Bellingham’s follow-up, Hermoso cleared Bellingham’s second follow-up off the line, and Carvajal hammered the ball in to make it 3-3. In extra time, Ángel Correa’s dummy resulted in a similar moment for Atlético when Brahim nearly scored the winning goal with a spectacular stepover past Hermoso.
Atlético appeared tired and could only attempt, and fail, to hold on. The way it happened was harsh and a little foolish, with Savic’s interception looping over his own custodian and into the net with four minutes remaining and penalties looming. Griezmann then bent slightly past the post. Oblak followed suit as Atlético chased in the closing minute. After being forced to turn back and chase, he witnessed Brahim Díaz flee, squandering their final opportunity.
The Super Cup’s unique “final four” format pairs the top two teams from the Spanish league last season against the previous two Copa del Rey finalists.
