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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.
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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.
#3 Liverpool (3 titles)
Champions League winners Liverpool faced Europa League winners CSKA Moscow in the 2005 final in Monaco.
Brazilian midfielder Daniel Carvalho opened the scoring for the Russian club in the 27th minute, only for Liverpool's French striker Djibril Cisse to find the net 17 minutes from time to force extra time. Cisse then scored his second of the game and Luis Garcia added a third to seal a 3-1 victory for the English club.
With their previous win coming in 2001, the triumph was Liverpool's third in five appearances in the competition. It also marked the 7th and latest instance of an English club winning the UEFA Super Cup.
Liverpool's first triumph in the competition in 1977 was followed by runner-up finishes the next year and in 1984, against Anderlecht and Juventus respectively, before a win against Bayern Munich in 2001.
Liverpool have returned to the competition in 2019 after a 14-year hiatus. In an all-English final pitting Chelsea against Liverpool, England are assured of ending their 14-year wait for a UEFA Super Cup winner.
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#2 Real Madrid (4 titles)
In their last successful appearance in the UEFA Super Cup, Real Madrid, fresh off a record extending 12th Champions League title, faced Europa League winners Manchester United in the 2017 final in Skopje, Macedonia.
Goals from Casemiro and Isco gave the Spanish side a 2-0 lead. United pulled a goal back courtesy Romelu Lukaku's 62nd minute effort, but the Bernabeu club held on for a win to seal their fourth and latest triumph in the competition.
Madrid's previous wins in the UEFA Super Cup came against Feyenoord in 2002 and against Sevilla in 2014 and 2016.
The Spanish capital side has finished second best in the competition three times, doing so in 1998 against Chelsea and in 2000 against Turkish club Galatasaray before coming up short in the 2018 final against their cross-town rivals Atletico.
#1 AC Milan (5 titles)
In the 32nd edition of the UEFA Super Cup in Monaco 2007, Champions League winners AC Milan faced Europa League winners Sevilla.
After Renato opened the scoring for the Spanish club, Milan responded with second half goals from Inzaghi, Janulovski and Kaka to seal a record 5th triumph in the competition.
Milan's four previous wins in the competition were respectively against Barcelona in 1989, fellow Serie A side Sampdoria in 1990, Arsenal in 1994 and Porto in 2003.
The Italian club have twice come up short in the UEFA Super Cup, against Ajax in 1973 and Parma in 1993 respectively.
The 2007 win against Sevilla made Paulo Maldini the most successful player in the competition with 4 wins.
It remains the latest triumph by an Italian club at the competition as Milan's cross-town rivals Internazionale came up short against Europa League winners Atletico Madrid in the 2010 final.
#1 Barcelona (5 titles)
Champions League winners Barcelona faced Europa League winners Sevilla in the 2015 edition of the UEFA Super Cup.
In an eight goal thriller in Tbilisi, Georgia, Messi's brace gave Barcelona a 2-1 lead inside 20 minutes. Further goals from Rafinha and Georginho provided a seemingly unassailable lead for the Catalans.
But incredibly, Sevilla refused to cow down, scoring three goals in the last 33 minutes of the match to force extra time at an incredible 4-4 scoreline.
Pedro's winner five minutes from time finally doused Sevilla's challenge as Barcelona triumphed for a record-equaling fifth time in the competition, to join AC Milan for most UEFA Super Cup titles.
Barcelona's previous wins in the Super Cup came against Werder Bremen in 1992, Borussia Dortmund in 1997, Shakhtar Donetsk in 2009 and in 2011 against Porto.
The Spanish club has finished runner-up four times in the competition, doing so in 1979 (Nottingham Forest), 1982 (Aston Villa) and 1992 (AC Milan) in two legged finals and against Sevilla in 2006.
