• Controversy: The madness of the VAR in the Super Cup

The chunky kids wiggled the stellar stellar with enthusiasm, a while before Barcelona jumped to warm up in the royal stadium of Jeddah. They are local azulgrana fans, the only rock in the city. They ensure that almost 3,000 come together to see the classics. "It is an independence flag, of course we know it," they explain to the Spanish journalist, remaining unanswered when asked if a similar symbol could be seen in Saudi Arabia, claiming the secession of some kingdom territory. One of them snorts, imagining the eccentric case, and its consequences. And another, directly with a half-scared face, shouts "Messi, Messi, Barça, Barça". In the group, a colleague sitting beyond is wearing a scarf from the Spanish team.

They were the most uniformed of a stadium handed over to the Spanish League champion. Messi's departure to the grass caused the madness. "I've been waiting to see him live all my life," sighed one of the boys of the famous flag.

The shouts of the fans changed to hard whistles when the name of Ernesto Valverde was sung after the starting lineup. They had warned Arab journalists of the mania that the Barcelona coach has, which is blamed for the dislikes of last year and the change in the style of play. Near the break, the cameras focused on Extremadura on the giant screens and again took the shower. Simeone, despite the poor level his team was giving, was cheered a second later. The general criticism of the stands at Valverde turned out to be very striking, like the filling that last night did have the semifinal. The little rojiblancos fans appeared scattered around the stands.

It was hard to find them in the little Camp Nou that Barça found yesterday in Jeddah. A wave of the public hugged the boot, with the rojiblancos suffering much to the constant harassment of their rival. Simeone was desperate in the band, unmotivated as always. No one had shown more interest than the Argentine for the Super Cup. "It will make us grow as a team," he said in the previous one.

In the game, during the first part, the athletic coach did not know how to get his head out of the area. What matched most was the hitch that Joao Felix and Messi had on their way to the changing rooms. The Argentine claimed a previous action with Jordi Alba and the young footballer, instead of being intimidated, stood up. The two remained a few centimeters saying ugly things. The surprising duel caused the irruption of the partners of one and the other, with Savic and, above all, Luis Suárez putting peace in his own way. They took yellow paths. It had been a long time since he looked at the 10 so irritated with an opponent. The feeling of having let Atlético escape after 45 minutes of absolute dominance of the ball and impotence against Jan Oblak, spectacular in a couple of actions, would be to blame.

Koke's quick goal, in the initial kick-off of the second half, proved Messi's anger. The unexpected 0-1 completely silenced the stadium, only reactivated when the great idol raged the tie just a few minutes later. Then the animation returned to the Abadullah Stadium between uy, oys and ays of the Barça Arab fans. However, they still had the final disgust, in those ten minutes of madness that gave the final pass to Atlético between penalty kicks, another from Pique that nobody knows why the VAR did not point and the ultimate goal of Correa.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Luis Suarez
  • Koke
  • Jordi Alba
  • Joao Felix
  • Ernesto Valverde
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Copa del Rey
  • First division

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