Radamel Falcao scored a brilliant hat-trick in the first half, helping Atletico Madrid crush European champions Chelsea 4-1 at Stade Louis II, Monaco, to win the European Super Cup title on Friday night.
There was huge expectations on Chelsea to win the title following their good run in the ongoing Premier League but the Colombian striker made them look like pawns on Friday night as he scored three goals in the sixth, 19th and 44th minutes - all in the first half.
Miranda raised the score to 4-0 by sending the ball ino the net in the 60th minute. Gary Cahill scored a goal in the 75th minute for Chelsea but it was like a consolation because the team could not recover from Falcao's first half brilliant performance.
Atletico's majority shareholder Miguel Angel Gil was all praise for Falcao after scoring hat-trick against Chelsea to help Atletico Madrid win the coveted title.
"There is only one Falcao and he is ours," Atletico's majority shareholder Miguel Angel Gil told Spanish television. "He is a great team player. We are going to fight to keep him."
"We played a great game and we are delighted. We have to work to maintain this level. We knew we had to start with great intensity from the first minute and we were very effective with the chances we had," Reuters quoted Falcao as saying.
He went on to say that he is happy Atletico.
"I don't know what is going to happen in the future. I know some clubs were interested in maybe signing me in the summer but Atletico made every effort to keep me and I am delighted - this was our reward," he said.
Chelsea coach Roberto Di Matteo admitted that Falcao's early goals ruined his team's chance of winning the title.
"We were never really in the match after conceding those two early goals," the Italian told a news conference. "We gave them too much space and you see what happens if you give a player like Falcao too much space. He is one of the top strikers in European football and his second goal was a really good strike. But the fact we never really got into the game is the most disappointing thing and we lacked penetration. After they scored those two early goals they defended with a lot of men back and they made it difficult for us to find any space."
(With Inputs from Reuters)
