Mandzukic strike sinks Madrid as Atleti win Supercopa
If you were expecting Atletico Madrid to quietly disappear into the background after winning la Liga last season, you have just been forced to think again. Mario Mandzukic's second minute strike was the only goal on Friday night at the Vicente Calderon as Atleti claimed the Spanish Super Cup over their city rivals Real Madrid, but Diego Simeone's men may feel they should have won by more.
Simeone mentioned this week that, despite beating Real and Barcelona to the title last term, the champions of Spain are still a long way behind the free-spending duo. "They have a structure that allows them to spend €80 million on one player, while we have spent about €100m in total,” he stated. "It will be hard for us to compete with them."
In many ways he is completely right. Atleti can't match the financial muscle of their closest competitors, although that didn't stop them last season. And despite seeing Thibuat Courtois, Diego Costa and Filipe Luis wind up at Chelsea over the summer, Atleti have invested in Cholo and he, in turn, in the squad. It means they've been able to add players of the calibre of Mandzukic and Antoine Griezmann to their ranks.
It was one of those new arrivals that gave them the lead as they flew out of the traps in front of a packed house in the Spanish capital. Miguel Angel Moya's long ball was knocked on and Mandzukic, formerly of Bayern Munich, fired beyond Iker Casillas from just inside the box.
The game maintained a level of intensity after that early goal, but it wasn't until the 25th minute that the next big chance arrived. James Rodriguez exchanged passes with Dani Carvajal, but his shot was expertly saved by Moya.
Moments later, Diego Simeone was expelled from the touchline for lightly placing his hand on the referee's head. It signalled the start of Madrid best spell of the match. James headed wide and Bale's dragged shot went the same way. It began to look like a matter of time until Carlo Ancelotti's men would equalise.
However they never really came closer than that, and it was their red and white hosts who looked much more like scoring. Namely Raul Garcia. The former Osasuna man brought the best out of Casillas from 25-yards; from the flurry of corners which followed he was then culpable of heading over when unmarked and six-yards out.
Into the second half and it was still Atleti and Garcia who were threatening. The latter's flicked header bounced down off the bar - the wrong side of the line - and Casillas did well to palm the ball away. Next on his agenda was trying his luck from distance again, fizzing an effort inches wide.
Madrid, meanwhile, were struggling to make progress. Cristiano Ronaldo had replaced Toni Kroos at half time, while Isco came on for James, but nobody could come close. Gareth Bale had a botched up penalty appeal turned down as Atleti's brilliant defence once again stood up to the challenge in front of them.
With the seconds ticking down in injury time, Simeone was seen in the stands, where he had been sent, conducting and rousing the fans. He might have been among the people keen to play down his team's chances this season, but Atletico Madrid don't look ready to slink into hiding any time soon.
Match facts
Atletico Madrid: Moya; Juanfran, Miranda, Godin, Siqueira, Gabi, Tiago, Koke, Raul Garcia (Saul 90), Griezmann (Jimenez 73), Mandzukic (Rodriguez 85).
Bookings: Tiago, Griezmann, Raul Garcia.
Goal: Mandzukic '2.
Real Madrid: Casillas; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Coentrao (Marcelo 70), Alonso, Kroos (Ronaldo 45), Modric, James (Isco 65), Bale, Benzema.
Bookings: Modric, Alonso.
Sent off: Modric.
