Atletico Madrid upset Barcelona in Supercopa Semi; Suarez says Valverde is not to blame

Atletico de Madrid defeated FC Barcelona by 3-2 in the semi-final of Supercopa de Espana as Diego Simeoni’s men pulled out an eye-catching comeback.

Atletico Madrid’s memorable victory against Ernesto Valverde’s men in the semi-final showdown means they will face their arch-rivals Real Madrid to set up an intriguing Madrid Derby in the final on Sunday night.

Down 2-1 with 10 minutes to go, Atletico turned the tide in their favor to get an upper hand over the Catalan giants.

The game was a tale of two halves and all the drama was produced in the second one. Koke broke the deadlock for Atletico while Lionel Messi equalized from a stellar right-footed finish. It was Atletico Madrid’s former player Antoine Griezmann who gave the Blaugrana giants a lead with a tidy header that enter into the back of the net. However, Atletico Madrid did spark a comeback as Alvaro Morata scored from the penalty spot on the 81st-minute mark while Angel Correa bagged the winner with four minutes left of normal time. VAR played its part too, as it ruled out a goal scored by Pique via an assist from Vidal which attracted huge controversy.

This will be Atletico’s seventh Spanish Super Cup final where they hope to win their third title.

 

Luis Suarez says that Barcelona’s boss Ernesto Valverde is not to blame for the loss against Diego Simeoni’s men.

“[Valverde] is not to blame, the mistakes were ours and we can’t make them,” he said.

“I do not know if they are defeats that help us grow, [but] this defeat shows that there are things to correct.

“It shows us that there are mistakes that cannot be committed because we were in control of the game and we have allowed them to hit us on the counter-attack.”

Two Barcelona goals, scored by Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique, were disallowed after being reviewed by VAR.

“I have already said what I think of VAR,” Suarez added.

“The most logical thing is the goal-line [technology] because the [offside] line can be wrong because it is [made by] a human being like us.”