Real Madrid are through to the Supercopa de Espana final for the third consecutive year after overcoming city rivals Atletico in an eight-goal thriller that went the distance in extra-time.
Spanish football has temporarily relocated to Saudi Arabia this week for the annual mini-tournament, with the Madrid derby the first of the two semi-finals – Barcelona face Osasuna on Thursday.
The two sides had traded four goal in a pulsating opening half hour, with Mario Hermoso putting Atletico ahead after only six minutes on the clock. Los Blancos then turned it round with two goals in the space of nine minutes from defenders Antonio Rudiger and Ferland Mendy.
Antoine Griezmann brought it back to 2-2 before half-time, becoming Atletico’s all-time leading goalscorer in the process with his 174th strike for the club to surpass Luis Aragones on 173.
Atletico then thought they had done enough to reach the Supercopa final for the first time since 2020 when Rudiger found the net again, but this time at the wrong end.
Dani Carvajal, who had earlier missed a glorious chance to put Real into the lead, then popped up with the dramatic 85th minute equaliser that forced the tie into extra-time. It wasn’t quite as dramatic as the 2014 Champions League final between the two, but certainly reminiscent.
Extra-time was a tense affair that wasn’t decided until near the end when the contest looked to be heading for a penalty shootout. Instead, another own goal – this time from Atletico’s Stefan Savic – handed Real the lead.
With Diego Simeone’s team increasingly desperate and Jan Oblak heading up to put an extra body in the box, a Real counter finished by Brahim Diaz into an empty deep into stoppage time of the additional period finally settled it in Real’s favour.
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