IN SPORT.ES
Barcelona played well but threw it away. Atletico came from behind to beat the Catalans and book their place in the Spanish Super Cup final against local rivals Real Madrid on Sunday.
Atletico drew first blood in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in the second semi-final of the revamped Super Cup competition.
Barcelona were on top in the first half and Jan Oblak was forced into good saves by Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann, but it was the capital club who went ahead.
Koke slotted home just 20 seconds into the second half after good work by Joao Felix.
Barcelona hit back strongly, with Leo Messi driving home the equaliser and then seeing another disallowed for handball.
Antoine Griezmann netted shortly afterwards to put the Catalans ahead, with Gerard Pique also scoring but his effort was disallowed too, for offside.
Barcelona paid a price, with Alvaro Morata levelling from the penalty spot when Neto clumsily brought down Vitolo.
Atletico demanded another penalty when Pique handled the ball in the area but it wasn’t given. It didn’t matter when Neto erred again and let Angel Correa’s effort in.
“Maybe we made some mistakes, we have to work and improve because only with that can we get up,” said Griezmann.
“We made mistakes with our passing, small things that cost you a game, a league, a cup.
“VAR is here to help football and sometimes it helps you, sometimes it goes against you, that’s how it is.”