Hoy y siempre, Atlético de Madrid

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The Supercopa de España is the kick-off of the football season in Spain, when the holders of Copa del Rey face La Liga champions in a two-legged tie and this year, Real Madrid as the winners of Copa del Rey hosted locals rivals and the La Liga title holders, Atlético Madrid to a highly anticipated match, called El Derbi Madrileño.

The two clubs faced each other on five occasions during the 2013-2014 season with Los Blancos gain the upper hand with three wins, Atletico won one game and the last match was a draw.
Atlético were the better side in the La Liga matches with an away 1-0 win in Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, the second match at Vicente Calderón finished as a 2-2 draw. On the other hand, Real has cruised through to the final of Copa del Rey, beating Los Colchoneros twice in the semi-finals with a 3-0 at home and 2-0 on the away game. However, the last match in the season of both teams was the prestigious final of UEFA Champions League with an extra-time victory for Real Madrid, equalizing the result with a header by Sergio Ramos in the 93rd minute.

The bitter loss in the Champions League final is leading Atlético Madrid to seek revenge and win the title for the first time since 1985 with the debut of Bernd Schuster on the sidelines, replacing club-legend Diego Simeone but Real Madrid will come to be an obstacle and hope to bring the title home for the second time in three years, winning Barcelona in 2012.

Atlético featured strong line-ups with four debutantes in the starting XI in the form of Jan Oblak, Guilherme Siqueira, Saúl, Antoine Griezmann and Fernando Torres in his return-game.
The vice-captain, Diego Godin, has not been included in Schuster's squad as he twisted his ankle in a training earlier this week and José Giménez has found himself a place in the eleven, instead.

Real Madrid's manager had an almost full squad at his disposal, with only one first-team regular injured who was Croatian midfielder, Luka Modrid. New back-up goalkeeper, Keylor Navas, missed the game due to an injury along with Jesé Rodríguez and Javier Hernández.
The promising Brazilian, Lucas Silva, was positioned in his neutral defensive midfielder and replaced injured Modric.

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Atlético Madrid XI (4-5-1): Oblak, Juanfran, Miranda, Giménez, Siqueira, Turan, Koke, Gabi(C), Saúl(81'), Griezmann, Torres(86').
Substitutes: Moyà, Gámez, Ansaldi, Tiago(81'), El Shaarawy, Dybala, Mandzukic(86').

Real Madrid XI (4-1-2-2-1): Casillas, Carvajal(75'), Varane, Ramos, Marcelo, Silva, Khedira, Kroos, Ronaldo, Bale(81'), Benzema.
Substitutes: Pacheco, Arbeloa(75'), Nacho, Illarramendi, Ødegaard, Isco, Rodríguez(81').

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The exclusions of Mandzukic and Rodríguez from the starting eleven in both sides caused a shock, while the decision of including youngster Lucas Silva in the first-team had pundits harshly criticize Ancelotti as they believed he had better options on the bench, such as Illarramendi or Isco.

The Spanish international referee, Antonio Mateu Lahoz, has been the chosen man for the task of refereeing the heated game with both teams as passionate as the other to take the title home.
Estadio Santiago Bernabéu has seen approximately 80,000 enthusiastic fans coming through the gates to watch their beloved football team challenge for the 2014 Supercopa de España trophy.

Real Madrid kicked-off the game yet it was Atlético who had threated with chances first as Koke saw Casillas saving his shot acrobatically. Ancelotti demanded from his players to push forward and so they did, created chances and mercilessly attacking Atlético but only to see Oblak's great saves.

The first highlight was of Los Colchoneros, unlike how the game progressed, came on the 22nd minute as Varane cleared Koke's cross from a free-kick into the legs of Saúl who passed to Torres in the box and he quickly turned around before slotting the ball home. Ecstatic Torres went to celebrate with the fans as he scored a goal on his return game, lovely comeback for the Spaniard.

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Fernando Torres scores a lovely goal in his return game and gave his team the lead.

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It took only a minute for Los Blancos to see Benzema's delightful equaliser as Khedira nodded a ball to Cristiano Ronaldo who moved it with a short pass to Kroos that found Benzema inside the box, between Miranda and Giménez, with a professionally done lobbed pass. The international French didn't panic and bagged his first goal of the season with a lovely shot on the ground and debutant Oblak couldn't save this time.

Bale had managed to shoot a ball over the bar before João Miranda sealed the result in the 29th minute of the game as Koke has lined up a free-kick from nearly 30m following a foul of Khedira on Saúl. Koke went on to shoot the ball but Casillas saved it, unfortunately for him into the legs of João Miranda who ran away from his man-mark to fiercefully shoot the ball into the net.

Atlético accomplished their manager's goals and went back while Real un-successfully tried to equalise however they had only one shot on target as Ronaldo smashed the bar in the second half.
Real Madrid were helpless in the attack despite their various options as Atlético showed a great defensive display since their winner goal from Miranda, guided to do so by their manager.

The Santiago Bernabéu roared on the 81st minute as James Rodríguez came on for his debut instead of disappointing Gareth Bale but he did not have enough time to change the game.
Another remarkable event was a substitution five minutes later but in the side of Rojiblancos as Croatian target-man, Mario Mandzukic, replaced Fernando Torres in his debut and was received in a mixture of applause and jeers and taunts.

Lahoz blew the final whistle with Bernd Schuster completed a very successful debut, defeating his team's hated rivals in their own stadium and he voiced his opinion in the post-match interview, "We've been marked as an underdogs but we showed great will and I'm proud of my players. We had a great first half, scoring two goals in a tough away game and then we took advantage of the lead and defended. We still did not win the title yet, there is a second match in our home and we have huge advantage."

"It is satisfying to see Torres continue his form from pre-season into the first game of the season with a goal on his official return-game and I believe he will contribute us a lot in the up-coming season," said the German about his loanee and club icon, Fernando Torres.

The manager of the losing and disappointed side, Carlo Ancelotti, talked to us too and said;
"It is very sad to lose a game, especially against your rivals and in your home. We weren't too focused in the defence in the first half and it costed us two goals and a loss too, eventually.
This is not over yet and I firmly believe we can do the comeback in the second-leg and we will prepare for it when time's right but for now, the season starts in four days and we need to forget about this match."

Man of the Match is João Miranda who scored the winner for his side and had been a rock in the defence too, concluding a brilliant match for the Brazilian defender.
"What matters is the team won and I am glad I could help, scoring a goal. Yes, it is satisfying to win a game against Real Madrid but I do not see it as a revenge," said Miranda.

Atlético beat the odds with a stunning and important victory on Real and they are favorite to lift the trophy with second leg in the Vicente Calderón Stadium and we ancipiate for the next clash between the two.

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Great first leg, and a great update! well done bro

Brilliant result

TodayAtTomorrow: I appreciate the positive feedback.
Cappy13: Yes, it is. Thank you!

Fantastic victory!

Justice: Thank you.

NOTICE: I possibly dislocated/fractured my left wrist so it'll take me more time to do updates, unfortunately. I will try to keep up with updates though untill it fully recovers.

How'd you go and do that?

Arvind K: I played football and saved a shot not too good(it wasn't a goal though ;)) and my wrist got the hit.

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Following a very entertaining first leg in Estadio Santiago Bernabéu with a huge twist in the plot, seeing Atlético de Madrid picking up an away win and attain an advantage for the trophy, the second leg tonight at Estadio Vicente Calderón is highly anticipated by many fans to repeat the first leg with a great performance by both teams in the second Madrileño Derby this year in a space of less than a week.

Carlo Ancelotti did not make a single change in his line-up from the first leg, despite being heavily criticized for the inclusion of Lucas Silva who is not fit yet for such a tensing and important tie. The great trinity of Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo had all played and were given the lead in the offence by the Italian international manager. Javier Hernández and Luka Modric recovered from their injuries, a gashed leg and a bruised jaw respectively but started the game on the bench.

On the other hand, Bernd Schuster had done few changes in his eleven to counter certain threats of the opposition. First one was Lucas Romero who signed a contract with the club a day before the match and replaced Saúl, it is believed Schuster wanted a more defensive-styled midfielder to back up the defence and thus included Romero. The second change in Atlético's starting line-up was replacing José Giménez with Spanish right-back, Jesus Gámez, as a centre-defender.
Arda Turan was moved to the left wing, with Antoine Griezmann pushed back to the bench as Koke has been positioned on the right wing was the last change in the eleven with Fernando Torres still in the striker position, preferred over Mario Mandzukic by the German.

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Atlético Madrid XI (4-5-1): Oblak, Juanfran, Gámez(71'), Miranda, Siqueira, Koke, Tiago, Romero(64'), Gabi(C), Turan(64'), Torres.
Substitutes: Moyà, Giménez(71'), Ansaldi, Saúl(64'), El Shaarawy, Griezmann(64'), Mandzukic.

Real Madrid XI (4-1-2-2-1): Casillas, Carvajal(71'), Varane, Ramos, Marcelo, Silva(64'), Khedira, Kroos(71'), Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema.
Substitutes: Pacheco, Arbeloa(71'), Nacho, Modric(64'), Isco, Rodríguez(71'), Hernández.

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The exclusion of Griezmann has made many wonder whether it was a right call by Schuster as he is believed to be the engine of Los Colchoneros in the counter-attacks, as well placing Lucas Romero straight into the eleven despite having only one practice before the match.

The experienced referee, Alberto Undiano Mallenco, has been picked to referee the tight game between two local rivals, Atlético de Madrid versus Real Madrid in the full Vicente Calderón stadium in front of nearly 55,000 fans who are thrilled to see which teams will lift the trophy at the end of the game tonight.

Real Madrid got the game underway and risked Oblak's goal twice in the first minute however the young Slovenian keeper has had done great in keeping the sheet clean for now.
The game heated up quickly with Sergio Ramos picking up the first yellow in the game following a tackle on Fernando Torres while the first chance was of the Rojiblancos, with Casillas pushed away a free-kick of Arda Turas and Juanfran picked the ball but his shot was off the target.

The next two opportunities belonged to Real Madrid with Gareth Bale dribbling his way into the box, only to shoot the ball away negligently in the first chance but the second chance almost put youngster Lucas Silva on the score sheet as he powered a header into the post after a corner of Toni Kroos. No further remarkable events happened in the first half at the Vicente Calderón.

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http://www.7msport.com/photo/upload/20150215/112746sf3sx_2hv0142397086631143.jpg
The Brazilian hot prospect, Lucas Silva, has almost gave his side the lead with a fierce header but the post denied him from scoring on his third appearence for the Blancos.

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Both Ancelotti and Schuster decided against calling an early substitution and let their starting eleven begin the other half of the game as Atlético kicked-off the ball.
Atlético de Madrid's staff, players and fans were struck with shock and heavy concern two minutes in the second half as Fernando Torres got injured after a challenge of Raphaël Varane but El Niño recovered quickly and stayed on the pitch to play the rest of the game.

Despite the injury, Torres led a counter-attack after receiving a great pass from Tiago and the striker found Arda Turan in the left wing with a lobbed pass and the Turkish midfielder passed the ball into the box to Gabi but Varana intercepted the ball, straight into Turan who scored for his team with a flat and placed shot to Casillas' right corner on the 51st minute.

Thirteen minutes later, Lucas Silva was shown the yellow card after he fouled Tiago 40m away from Real Madrid's goal and Koke took the free-kick. He stepped to the ball and fired a stunning shot into the right post and the ball bounced off into the net, a promising 2-0 lead for Los Colchoneros and 4-1 overall in both legs over Los Blancos.

Koke's fantastic goal has made Ancelotti replace Lucas Silva with Luka Modric in the centre midfield and Bernd Schuster responded accordingly, subbing booked Lucas Romero and Jesus Gámez with Saúl and José Giménez.

The game went quiet and none of the teams had created any chances to score as Real Madrid wasted their chances with inaccurate outside shots as they could not break Atlético's defence despite missing their star and team's vice-captain, Diego Godin.

Alberto Undiano Mallenco blew the final whistle after ninety-three minutes and sent Atlético Madrid's players and supporters to celebrate in their home stadium, following a two-legged victory over their bitter rivals, Real Madrid, with 2-1 in the first leg at the Bernabéu and 2-0 today at the Vicente Calderón which earned them the title of '2014 Supercopa de España winners'.

"I am delighted we beat the odds and silenced the pundits who marked us as the underdogs in this tie, we have done the so called unbelievable but we believed in ourselves for the whole time," said satisfied Bernd Schuster after the win. "I want to thank the players for their efforts and the fans for their continuous cheer and chants."

Carlo Ancelotti expressed his disapponting about the loss to Atlético, "It is a very bitter loss but Atlético fully deserved it, being the better team in both games and Schuster deserves all the credits for that."

Atlético de Madrid won their second title in this year with 2014 Supercopa de España join to their astonishing La Liga victory last year. The captain, Gabi, went on to lift the trophy for the second time in the club's history with his excited team-mates surround him.

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Koke(R), Diego Godin(C), Mario Mandzukic(L) pose with the Supercopa de España trophy.

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Atlético will look to start their season successfully, based on the mental boost they received with the victory tonight while Carlo Ancelotti will need his players to look up and play the football he wants so they pose a threat for all titles this year.

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Smashing Real just like Atleti are doing irl this year, eh?

Congrats on the trophy win!

Arvind K: You know it.
Justice: Thank you!

Antoine Griezmann starred during August with two goals and two assists and had shown sparks and great talent.

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The competitive season of 2014\2015 of Atlético de Madrid has begun with a trophy, defeating Real Madrid in a revenge for the UEFA Champions League loss last year and lifting the Supercopa de España but the challenge is yet to come, with La Liga's kick-off is right behind the corner.

The supporters of the club have set very high expectations, following an unbelivable La Liga victory last year with Diego Simeone taking the plaudits for building a committing, aggressive side. However, this year is a very different story.

Last season's starring players such Diego Costa, Filipe Luís and Thibaut Courtois all left for european giants, Chelsea, while the Argentinian was still in charge however Jan Oblak, Guilherme Siqueira and Mario Mandzukic has replaced the fan-favorite trio in the capital side.
And then another problem hit the Vicente Calderón with Simeone's shocking resigning but former player and ex-Getafe manager has been called to replace the club legend, with one hundred percent success so far with two victories over bitter rivals, Real, and fans already like the man despite a short stint as a manager in Los Blancos when he brought them to their 31st La Liga title.

The German manager has shown the door for two players, super-sub Raúl García and home-grown Mario Suárez but signed three players instead, who are Stephan El Shaarawy who is yet to make his debut in the Rojiblancos, Paulo Dybala and Lucas Romero who has played in the first-team during his debut in the second leg of the Spanish supercup.

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RAYO VALLECANO 1-7 ATLÉTICO MADRID (LA LIGA)
GRIEZMANN (x2), MANDZUKIC (x2), GÁMEZ, DYBALA (x2)
ANTOINE GRIEZMANN (9.6)

Atlético Madrid XI (4-2-2-2): Oblak, Juanfran, Gámez, Miranda, Siqueira(75'), Tiago, Gabi(C, 88'), Turan, Griezmann(60'), Mandzukic, Dybala.
Substitutes: Moyà, Giménez, Ansaldi(75'), Saúl, Koke(88'), El Shaarawy(60'), Torres.

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Atlético de Madrid launched their season with a huge confidence boost from the two-legged victory over Real Madrid in the Supercopa de España and prospered at the first league game of the season with new manager, demolishing Rayo Vallecano 7-1 in an away game at Estadio de Vallecas.

Rayo Vallecano knew win over La Liga champions is a long shot but they gave their best however it only lasted two minutes with French winger, Antoine Griezmann, scored his first ever goal for Los Colchoneros as he picked up a lobbed pass from Gabi, lifted his left leg and shot a stunning volley into the right corner.

Mario Mandzukic doubled the lead and went on to celebrate his first goal for Atlético after he headed in a cross of Griezmann. The next goal was of debutante Jesus Gámez charged onto a rebound and tucked it in following a Griezmann's saved free-kick.

Alberto Bueno took possession of the ball after a tackle of Siqueira and pulled one back for Rayo. Fifty seconds in the second half of the game and target-man Mario Mandzukic capitalized on a great pass of Paulo Dybala to score from within the box and complete a brace.
Griezmann's second goal in the game was as beautiful as the first after Guilherme Siqueira nodded down a corner of Dybala to the French international footballer who nailed a goal with another volley and it was 5-1 on the scoreboard.

The next highlight was a red card shown to Mohammed Fatau by the referee following an ugly two-legged tackle on the game's star, Antoine Griezmann.
Atlético's captain, Gabi, sent Paulo Dybala forward with a direct long ball and the Argentinian striker seized on Rayo's leaky and unconfident to score his first goal ever in his new team.
Rayo remained with eight players on the pitch after two injured players could not be substituted
after three early substitutions by the manager and Dybala scored his second brace and joined Mandzukic and Griezmann to the brace list after he reached first to Juanfran's near-post cross and slotted it past the goalkeeper, sealing the result as a fantastic 7-1.

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ATLÉTICO MADRID 3-0 EIBAR (LA LIGA)
MANDZUKIC, MIRANDA, SIQUEIRA (PEN)
JUANFRAN (9.0)

Atlético Madrid XI (4-2-2-2): Oblak, Juanfran(80'), Giménez, Miranda, Siqueira(80'),Gabi(C, 70'), Romero, Turan, Griezmann, Mandzukic, Torres.
Substitutes: Moyà, Gámez(80'), Ansaldi(80'), Saúl(70'), Correa, El Shaarawy, Dybala.

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Following the great victory over Rayo Vallecano, Bernd Schuster and his players faced Eibar for the first league game at Estadio Vicente Calderón for this season and recorded another win as they cruised through Eibar who is anticipated to battle for the survial this season.

Atlético Madrid came confident and dominated the entire game however their attack was not as prolific as in the last game against Rayo due to a great defensive display by Eibar however the barrier has been breached seconds before half-time as Juanfran found the head of Mario Mandzukic with an outstanding cross and the Croatian knocked it in.

The second goal came twenty minutes before full-time as Miranda powered a header from a corner of Juanfran who recorded two assists to his name and has displayed a great performance.
The referee, Iñaki Bikandi, pointed to the penalty spot in the 78th minute after he witnessed a push on Mario Mandzukic as he tried to jump for Juanfran's cross from deep and Guilherme Siqueira made the penalty a goal with a placed shot to the right corner.

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The Croatian target-man, Mario Mandzukic, has been on fire in the first two games of the season with three goals and one assist and had led the attack of Atlético Madrid. Los Colchoneros is to challenge the title if Mandzukic will perform at the same level as in the last month.

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Great month!

Justice: Muchas gracias, señor.