Atletico Madrid won the Spanish Super Cup after defeating its crosstown rivals Real Madrid 1-0 in the second leg of the contest at the Vicente Calderon Stadium.

Latin Post breaks down some observations from the match:

Real Madrid Defense Disastrous Throughout

Is this really the team that won the Champions League last season in such convincing manner? Los Blancos have looked woeful in the preseason and managed just one win in seven matches leading up to Monday's opener against Cordoba.

And this game might have been the worst of the bunch, as nothing went right. The defense looked shaky with both Raphael Varane and Sergio Ramos making colossal mistakes on the opening goal just a minute and a half into the contest. Ramos has not been good since his heroic performance in the UCL final in Lisbon. His World Cup and preseason have been riddled with one woeful mistake after another and it seems that the veteran defenders is going through a terrible slump. His touches are not precise and he tends to lose focus defensively in the wrong moments.

Meanwhile, Varane simply does not look like the player that made a tremendous debut under Jose Mourinho in 2012-13. For whatever reason, the youngster who was among the nominees for best young player at the World Cup looked physically overwhelmed and constantly made poor passes.

Fabio Coentrao provided some solid positioning, though hardly anything moving forward. The only defender that had a strong game was Dani Carvajal. The defender constantly looked to create moving forward and managed to make crucial defensive plays in major moments. He ran back to catch up with Mario Mandzukic when it looked like the forward had broken in alone on goal. Earlier he made a fine interception of a solid chance for Raul Garcia.

Oh, and Iker Casillas had a solid game despite not seeing much action throughout. He made a solid reaction block on a sitter for Mandzukic that would have made it 2-0.

The Midfield Is Also Disastrous

The midfield trio of Xabi Alonso, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos once again proved uninspiring. The trio was used in the opening leg and lacked the ability to open up a disciplined Atletico defense. Part of the issue lies in Kroos and Alonso occupying similar space in the heart of the midfield. Both are excellent passers (though Alonso was pitiful in this match in that respect) and neither is willing to attack the defense directly. The result is that they are too easy to defend against and offer little creatively for the team. That forces Modric to be more direct. The small midfielder is simply not up to the task of outrunning and outmuscling tougher defenders.

That is why a trio that included Angel Di Maria was so effective. He tracks back and uses his nimble speed to offset the opposition defense. He is highly unpredictable moving forward and that allows him to open up space for the main attackers and Modric.

Without that kind of penetration the team could be in for a long season.

The Attack Is Not Much Better

Admittedly, James Rodriguez had a tremendous performance for the 65 minutes he played. He seemed comfortable running into space in the final third and found the seams to create space for himself and the other attackers. He also had three major goal scoring chances, two of which went just wide and one which was stopped by a sharp Miguel Angel Moya.

But the rest of the attackers were awful. Gareth Bale was virtually non-existent for 90 minutes. He seemed intent on running through the crowd of defenders around him. He never succeeded. Karim Benzema never found any space for himself and was another nonentity for the duration.

Cristiano Ronaldo's ill-advised entrance in the second half also did little to help the team. The talisman barely moved around the pitch and added little to create space for his teammates. He looked like he was still struggling with injury. This could be very bad for Los Blancos moving forward.

The Coaching Decisions Were Dreadful

Carlo Ancelotti masterminded La Decima three months ago, but his decision-making was appalling in this game.

Bringing in Ronaldo was a mistake as he was clearly not ready to go. But what exacerbated the situation was who the superstar replaced. In the first half, Madrid was controlling the midfield and possession thanks to the astute passing of Kroos. The German was not unlocking Atletico's defense, but he was creating space and retaining possession effectively. Alonso provided more defensive coverage, but he hardly looked as effective as his German teammate at retaining possession.

And so it proved as the team struggled to retain the ball throughout the second half and became undone by a plethora of hasty mistakes.

That was Misake No. 1. The second mistake was bringing in Ronaldo and taking off Kroos, Rodriguez was forced to move deeper into the midfield to help out Modric and Alonso. And while he was still making fine plays with Ronaldo and company, he was less dynamic and less present.

But he was still having a good game. And so the substitution that Ancelotti made next was all the more baffling. Isco, another attack-minded player, was brought on in place of the team's top attacking star to that point. Bringing on Isco was not a problem. He could have slotted in for Alonso to help the team retain possession and find more attacking presence. It would have been a risk to be sure, but there was really nothing to lose that point as the team was trailing 1-0.

But instead the team's top attacker was taking off for a similar player, who had little to no impact on the game. While Rodriguez played centrally and forced the defenders to open up a bit, Isco constantly found himself on the left flank behind Ronaldo. He not only wound up with a yellow card for a poor tackle on Raul Jimenez, but he rarely did anything with the possession he had.

Ultimately, this comes down to Ancelotti for some poor decisions and execution all around.

Atletico Looks Like a Title Contender

Yes, there was another team in this game. Real Madrid was so dreadful that it was essential to point that out. But Atletico was also excellent and brought out the worst in its big rival. Everyone on the team was synchronized through and through. Raul Garcia had a terrific game in which he simply seemed to find space in front of goal at will.

Antoine Griezmann provided the team with plenty of speed as the second forward, allowing Mandzukic an opportunity to play more centrally and overpower Ramos and Varane.

Koke was his usually brilliant self and had a terrific game controlling what little possession the team had. He did have an opportunity to put the game away in the waning minutes but opted for an ill-advised flick that was easily recovered by Iker Casillas. But that was a minor gripe in a commanding performance.

The defensive tandem of Diego Godin, Miranda and Tiago were flawless as Los Blancos did not get a single major scoring chance in the entire game.

Moya made timely saves when called upon.

And Diego Simeone got himself ejected for tapping a referee on the back of the head. But his passionate intensity on the sidelines clearly transferred over to his squad which ran at its opponents from the go and never relented.

It was picture perfect performance from the reigning Spanish League champs. If they play like this the whole year, there is no reason to doubt their being able to repeat their championship.

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