Atletico Madrid Beat Real To Lift Spanish Super Cup

Atletico Madrid won the Spanish Super Cup 2-1 on aggregate following a 1-0 win over Real Madrid in the second leg of the competition in the Vicente Calderon Stadium on Friday night. Following a 1-1 draw in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Tuesday night, Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti made several changes to his side, most notably with James Rodriguez in the starting 11 along with Fabio Coentrao and Rafael Varene with Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench after suffering a muscle injury in midweek. Meanwhile Angel Di Maria, who Ancelotti confirmed on Thursday had asked for a transfer over the summer, was dropped from the squad, despite a game-changing substitute display three days earlier. Atletico Madrid meanwhile kept faith in the side which had stifled their neighbors so effectively on Tuesday night with two exceptions as Tiago Cardoso replaced Mario Suarez and Antoine Griezmann also forcing his way into the side. The only goal of the game came in the second minute when recent arrival Mario Mandzukic latched onto a header from Griezmann after a long clearance from Atletico keeper, Miguel Angel Moya. Atletico controlled the first 20 minutes, but saw coach Diego Simeone sent off for protesting after 25 minutes after an action which saw him give the 4th official a slight slap around the neck.