Atletico Madrid beat Barcelona to set up Spanish Super Cup final clash with rivals Real Madrid
Barcelona 2-3 Atletico Madrid: Late goals helped Diego Simeone's side come from behind to book a place in Sunday's final
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Atletico Madrid pulled off a stunning turnaround to beat Barcelona 3-2 in an enthralling Spanish Super Cup tie in Saudi Arabia and book their place in the final of the revamped competition where they will face Real Madrid.
Argentine forward Angel Correa struck the decisive goal in the 86th minute to complete an unlikely late comeback for Atletico after Barca had dominated the second half and had two goals ruled out following VAR reviews.
Substitute Koke had put Atletico in front at the start of the second half but Lionel Messi levelled in the 51st minute. Messi soon put the ball in the net again but his second effort was ruled out for handball following a VAR review.
Former Atletico striker Griezmann did put Barca in front in the 65th while Gerard Pique thought he had extended their lead moments later but that goal was also ruled out after a VAR review, this time for a fractional offside against Arturo Vidal.
Atleti had spent most of the second half trying to stop waves of Barca attacks but got a lifeline when substitute Vitolo was tripped by goalkeeper Neto and striker Alvaro Morata equalised from the penalty spot in the 81st minute. Stand-in keeper Neto was also at fault for the winning goal, failing to properly block Correa's shot which bounced into the net to cap an incredible match. (Reuters)
Re-live the action in the blog below:
Barcelona 0-0 Atletico Madrid
22: Barcelona are just finding their rhythm and Messi has his first real chance of the game.
Oblak is fit again and goodness he needed to be in order to quickly get down and turn away Messi's low shot from an angle with his feet.
Barcelona 0-0 Atletico Madrid
25: You really hate to think where Barcelona would be without Lionel Messi. He's doing it all here and wins a corner, which he takes, of course.
It's worked short and Griezmann has a chance to flick a cross on at the front post but nothing dangerous comes of it.
Barcelona 0-0 Atletico Madrid
26: Looks like it's getting a bit spicy between Pique and Savic. Not sure why, but the referee is over to calm things down.
Barcelona 0-0 Atletico Madrid
29: Messi tries his luck again and curls a shot high and wide following a neat run inside from the right.
Barcelona 0-0 Atletico Madrid
31: Pique is the first into the referee's book for a wild sliding tackle on Lodi. The Barcelona defender claims he got the ball, but that's adventurous.
Barcelona 0-0 Atletico Madrid
32: The free-kick is from a tight angle and Herrera decides to shoot, testing out Neto at the near post and the ball is saved with relative ease.
Barcelona 0-0 Atletico Madrid
33: That's so close.
Messi's corner is flicked on at the near post and Savic gets a last-ditch head to the ball to divert it from Suarez, who had a tap in if he missed it.
Barcelona 0-0 Atletico Madrid
34: This is strange. Thomas has been shown a yellow card as a Barcelona corner comes in, presumably for a push on Umtiti. Is this a penalty? No. The ball wasn't deemed to be in play despite the ball arriving in the box shortly after.
Barcelona 0-0 Atletico Madrid
36: Vidal has space on the right and crosses low to Suarez, he has a first-time shot and...is that Felipe's hand that blocks it? VAR is having a look as the play continues. No penalty says VAR.
That, @PremierLeague is how to use VAR. The stadium screen immediately showed that a VAR check was in place and it swiftly concluded that there was no handball.
Barcelona 0-0 Atletico Madrid
37: It's all hands to the pumps for Atletico Madrid as they battle to fight against the wave of Barcelona attacks that are coming their way.
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