A Raul Garcia equalizer two minutes from time denied James Rodriguez a dream home debut for Real Madrid and salvaged a 1-1 draw for Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Supercopa on Tuesday.
Rodriguez surprisingly started on the bench, but replaced Cristiano Ronaldo at halftime when the FIFA World Player of the Year was substituted due to a muscle injury.
Colombia FIFA World Cup star Rodriguez opened the scoring with his first goal for Real 10 minutes from time.
However, Atletico got a precious away goal to take to the return leg at the Estadio Vicente Calderon tomorrow when Garcia netted a late corner from close range.
After the match, Real boss Carlo Ancelotti allayed fears that Ronaldo’s injury could rule him out for a prolonged period of time.
“He [Ronaldo] had a strain after the first half and he wasn’t comfortable. We will evaluate him tomorrow and do all the proper checks, but it doesn’t appear anything too serious,” the Italian said.
Despite once again finding it difficult to break down Atletico’s dogged defense, Ancelotti is confident that a repeat performance will see his side emerge victorious tomorrow.
“If we repeat the way we played today we will win the Super Cup [Supercopa],” he said.
Atletico coach Diego Simeone hailed his side’s work rate and expressed his surprise that fellow Argentine Angel di Maria did not start and only featured as a late substitute.
Di Maria has been rumored with a move away from Real given their wealth of attacking options with the arrival of Rodriguez, but Simeone said the Argentine is even more vital to Real than Ronaldo or Gareth Bale.
“In the first half, despite defending close to our area we had three or four chances to score a goal,” he said. “The second half was more or less the same, with a little bit better play from Madrid with the introduction of Di Maria. That was logical because he is the best player they have.”
Ancelotti’s side dominated possession in the opening 45 minutes against a typically physical Atletico. However, Real created precious little in front of goal and it was Atletico who had the better chances in the first half, with Mario Mandzukic and Saul Niguez forcing Iker Casillas into smart saves.
With Rodriguez on for the stricken Ronaldo, Real instantly made a greater impression on the Atletico goal as Bale’s powerful right-footed effort was beaten away by Moya.
There was an escape for the Atletico goalkeeper on his debut 20 minutes from time, when he parried Bale’s free-kick back into the danger area and Toni Kroos blazed over with the goal at his mercy.
Real thought they had the winner on 80 minutes when Rodriguez fired home with the aid of a deflection off Cristian Ansaldi.
Yet Atletico replied with the kind of spirit that willed them to the La Liga title last season as the unmarked Garcia netted Koke’s corner.
Real now have to score at least once in the Calderon if they are to succeed in their quest to collect six trophies this season.
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