Real Madrid overcome Atletico to win Super Cup

Real Madrid have emerged as the winners of the Spanish Supercopa after beating city rivals Atletico Madrid on penalties on Sunday night.

After a goalless 120 minutes, Sergio Ramos scored what proved to be the decisive spot-kick to seal a 4-1 win after Saul Niguez and Thomas Partey failed to find the target from the penalty spot.

Atletico had edged out Barcelona in the semifinal to set up a date with Real Madrid who on their part dumped out Valencia.

Zinedine Zidane’s side ended the game with ten men but it did not deny Real Madrid their 11th Spanish Supercopa crown in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

Federico Valverde was shown a straight red card in the second half of extra time when he cynically brought down Alvaro Morata after the Atletico man had raced in behind the Real backline.

Unfortunately, Atleti fluffed the free-kick which was awarded just outside the box and ultimately couldn’t make their advantage count before the match headed to penalties.

In the shootout, Saul and Thomas each failed to convert their chances while Real went perfect from the spot to secure the victory.

It was the first year that the competition was expanded to include four teams and was moved to a neutral location.

Real Madrid most recently won the title in 2017, when they beat Barcelona 5-1 over two legs.

With Supercopa now in the kitty, Real Madrid will be shifting focus to the LaLiga where they are neck-to-neck with Barcelona and then the Champions League where they are in the knockout phase.