UEFA Super Cup: 5 most successful clubs in the tournament's history
The UEFA Super Cup is an annual curtain-raiser to the European football season. It is organised by UEFA between the previous season's winners of European club football's top two competitions - the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League.
With its first edition played in 1972, the event became a single leg final in 1988 held at a neutral venue. After 15 years in the Principality of Monaco (1998 - 2012), the tournament has been held in various cities in subsequent years.
The A. Le Coq Arena in Talinn, Estonia played host to the 2018 edition of the UEFA Super Cup where Atletico Madrid won their third title in the competition by beating cross-town rivals Real Madrid 4-2 after extra time.
24 clubs have won the UEFA Super Cup, with nine of them doing so twice. The 13 other clubs to have played the competition have never won the same.
Clubs from 13 different nations have triumphed at the UEFA Super Cup. Spain is the most successful nation at the event, with its clubs winning the trophy on a record 15 occasions along with 12 runner-up finishes.
Among the five major European football leagues (England, Spain, France, Italy, Germany), France is the only nation not to have a winner at the competition.
Lionel Messi of Barcelona is one of nine players to have scored three goals in the competition, with Radamel Falcao (2012) providing the only instance of a player scoring a UEFA Super Cup hat-trick, against Chelsea.
Paulo Maldini of AC Milan and Dani Alves of Barcelona are the only players to have won the UEFA Super Cup four times. The duo of Maldini and Alves have also played in a record five UEFA Super Cup finals.
Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti are the only coaches to have triumphed three times in the UEFA Super Cup.
On the eve of the 2019 UEFA Super Cup in Istanbul between Champions League winners Liverpool and Europa League winners Chelsea, let's have a look at the most successful teams in the competition.
#3 Atletico Madrid (3 titles)
Europa League winners Atletico Madrid thwarted the bid of Champions League winners Real Madrid to win a hat-trick of UEFA Super Cup titles with a 4-2 victory after extra time in the 2018 UEFA Super Cup final in Talinn.
This was the fifth all-Spanish UEFA Super Cup final, and the first instance of both finalists hailing from the same city.
Diego Costa became the fastest scorer in the competition when he opened the scoring for Atletico in the opening minute of the game. Madrid responded through Karim Benzema's 27th minute equaliser and led through Sergio Ramos's 73rd minute penalty, only for Atletico to force extra time after Costa scored his second of the game 11 minutes from time.
Two unanswered extra-time goals from Saul Niguez and Koke sealed a third triumph for Atletico in their third appearance in the competition. Madrid were thus denied the opportunity to become the first club to win the competition in three consecutive years.
Atletico's previous wins in the competition arrived in 2010 and 2012, each time as a Europa League winner, against Internazionale and Chelsea respectively.