Federico Valverde picked up one of the best red cards in football history as his professional foul five minutes from the end of the game was integral to Real Madrid's Supercopa victory.
Los Blancos beat local rivals Atletico Madrid in the final of the Spanish Super Cup on penalties on Sunday night but wouldn't have got down to spot kicks if not for Valverde.
With just five minutes left of extra time Atleti broke away on the counter with Alvaro Morata bearing down on Thibaut Courtois' goal only for Valverde to lunge in from behind and take the striker out from behind, earning Atleti a free kick and himself an early bath.
The move might have earned the 21-year-old a red card but he also won the Man of the Match award for the final, and rightly so, for his match winning contribution.
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Even opposition manager Diego Simeone couldn't be annoyed with the Real player. Asked after the match about the incident the Atleti boss said, "I told him not to worry, I told him that anyone would've done the same in that situation. I would've done the same. The MVP of this game was Fede Valverde because he won the game for Real Madrid"
The Supercopa, normally the season curtain raiser, was being played in Saudi Arabia for the first time and was changed to a new format with four teams taking part.
Barcelona and Valencia qualified as La Liga and Copa del Rey winners respectively with Atleti and Real qualifying by finishing second and third in the league.
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Real beat Valencia 3-1 in the first semi before Atleti came back from 2-1 down to beat Barca 3-2 to set up the final, a repeat of the 2014 and 2016 Champions League finals.
Both sides had chances in the game but Valverde's intervention stopped what might have been the best of the night before the game went to the shoot out.
Simeone's side failed to score from their first two whilst Zinedine Zidane's team scored all four to lift their first piece of silverware in the Frenchman's second spell in charge, thanks in huge part to the best professional foul ever.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: valencia, Football News, Penalties, Sergio Ramos, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Federico Valverde, Spain, Real Madrid, La Liga
