Spanish Super Cup: Real Madrid draw 1-1 with Atletico Madrid in first leg

Real Madrid’s James Rodriguez celebrates after scoring against Atletico Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup at the Santiago Bernabeu

The first leg of the Spanish Super Cup between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid ended in a 1-1 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The annual match between the La Liga champions and the Copa del Rey winners of the previous season was played in front of a crowd of more than 85,000 spectators.

There was also a tribute to the late Alfredo Di Stefano prior to the game, who passed away at the age of 88 last month.

Starting Line-ups

Real Madrid: Casillas; Marcelo, Pepe, Ramos, Carvajal; Alonso, Kroos, Modric; Ronaldo, Benzema, Bale. Substitutes: Navas, Varane, Coentrao, James Rodriguez, Arbeloa, Di Maria, Isco.

Atletico Madrid: Moya; Juanfran, Godin, Miranda, Siqueira; Mario Suarez, Gabi, Saul, Koke; Raul Garcia; Mandzukic. Substitutes: Oblak, Gimenez, Ansaldi, Tiago, Rodriguez, Griezmann, Jimenez.

Real Madrid 1-0 Atletico Madrid: James Rodriguez (81’)

Real Madrid opened the scoring only in the 81st minute when James Rodriguez was on hand to poke in a loose ball. Toni Kroos first found Daniel Carvajal who sent in a low cross into the box. Karim Benzema almost got a shot off but Miranda was there to block the shot. As the ball rolled back, Rodriguez was at the right place at the right time just outside the six-yard box to score with a slight deflection.

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Real Madrid 1-1 Atletico Madrid: Raul Garcia (88’)

But Los Blancos’ lead only lasted seven minutes as Atletico equalised with a corner kick. Koke sent in a corner that swung in toward the near post. But the ball went right past three Real Madrid defenders and Raul Garcia was there to flick the ball home while a stranded Iker Casillas could do nothing about it.

The second leg will be played on 22 August at the Vicente Calderon stadium.