Jose Antonio Reyes and Sergio Aguero scored second-half goals as Atletico Madrid beat Inter Milan 2-0 to win the European Super Cup for the first time Friday.
Atletico continued its run of form after winning the Europa League last season. Inter won the Champions League under former coach Jose Mourinho, who has been replaced by former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez.
''We have the squad to win titles. Today we showed it,'' Reyes said. ''It was a tremendous joy. To score a goal in the final is every player's dream.''
Atletico took the lead in the 62nd minute when Inter failed to clear the ball on the edge of the area and it fell to Reyes, who glided past Maicon with a neat touch and drove a shot into the bottom left corner past goalkeeper Julio Cesar
Aguero tapped into an empty net in the 83rd.
Inter striker Diego Milito's last-minute penalty was superbly saved by Atletico goalkeeper David de Gea.
Benitez, who guided Liverpool to its fifth Champions League title in 2005, remained upbeat despite the defeat.
''I think we played well, we had three dangerous situations in front of the goal,'' the Spaniard said, adding that he felt some of his players were tired.
''We were not at the level we needed to be against a team that was physically stronger and very good tactically,'' he said.
Benitez does admit he will have to decide what he needs to change after inheriting Mourinho's team.
''Some things we will need to do in the same way as we did before and change the way we do some other things,'' Benitez said. ''It's clear we will need some time, but how long you never know.''
Moments before Atletico's opening goal, Cesar had denied Reyes with a brilliant one-handed save low to his right as the former Arsenal forward cut inside down the right side and curled a shot goalward.
Milito, Inter's star when it beat Bayern Munich to win the Champions League, saw his shot deflected for a corner as Inter started brightly before gradually losing steam.
Samuel Eto'o, playing in a role out on the left, looked frustrated as he rarely got on the ball, but in the 32nd, he jinked past two defenders and hit a low shot which flew just past the right post.
Atletico striker Diego Forlan, the star of Uruguay's run to the World Cup semifinals, was well contained by the Inter defense and the Spanish side's most threatening player in the first half was the Argentina forward Aguero.
Roared on by Atletico's noisy fans, Aguero found space in the penalty area moments before the interval, but drove his powerful shot over the crossbar.
Atletico got on top in the second half, mainly because Inter failed to contain the pace of Reyes and the clever runs off the ball of Aguero as their defenders still had to keep an eye on the sleek and elusive Forlan.
''We faced a very good team tonight, the best in Europe last season, so we are happy with the result and the performance,'' Atletico midfielder Fran Merida said. ''We dominated the game for the most part and we were strong enough to face them.''
Inter still might have set up a grandstand finish when Goran Pandev was fouled in the box, but Milito's penalty was tipped around the post by Atletico's 19-year-old goalkeeper De Gea.
Prior to the game, police intervened quickly to prevent a clash between small factions of hooligans from Atletico and Inter.
Around 25 Atletico hooligans were waiting outside a shop near Monaco's Stade Louis II stadium when some 30-40 thugs from Inter turned a corner into the road, putting the rivals just yards apart.
Atletico thugs, some who smashed wooden crates and ripped off pieces to use as weapons, rushed into the road as they were beckoned on by their counterparts.
A handful of police formed a line to push the Atletico hooligans back before further reinforcements helped contain the Inter hooligans, some of whom were waving belts.
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Lineups:
Inter Milan: Julio Cesar, Maicon, Walter Samuel, Lucio, Cristian Chivu, Dejan Stankovic (Goran Pandev, 69), Javier Zanetti, Esteban Cambiasso, Wesley Sneijder (Coutinho, 78), Diego Milito, Samuel Eto'o.
Atletico Madrid: David de Gea, Tomas Ujfalusi, Luis Perea, Diego Godin, Alvaro Dominguez, Paulo Assuncao, Jose Antonio Reyes (Fran Merida, 70), Raul Garcia, Simao (Ignacio Camacho, 90), Sergio Aguero, Diego Forlan (Jose Manuel Jurado, 82).
(jp)
