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The semifinal of the first edition of the revamped four-team Spanish Super Cup has been rounded up, with Atletico Madrid dispatching Barcelona in a whirlwind five-goal thriller.
The capital club were in the tournament by virtue of their second-place finish last season, while Barcelona came in as league champions and overwhelming favourites.
The fact that the Catalans won the latest fixture between the pair in December only served to strengthen Barcelona's claim but despite falling behind, Atletico Madrid rallied to register a first victory in four years over the Blaugrana.
They had gone ahead thirty seconds into the second half through Koke but quickfire goals by Lionel Messi and former star Antoine Griezmann gave Ernesto Valverde's men the lead. Alvaro Morata levelled matters from the penalty spot and Angel Correa scored a late winner to send Atletico Madrid through to the final where they will face city rivals Real Madrid.
In this piece, we shall be highlighting four reasons why Barcelona fell to defeat against Atletico Madrid.
#4 The Catalans failed to take advantage of their chances
Few teams can outplay Barcelona, owing to the superior quality of their players and this much was evident against Atletico Madrid.
The first half saw the LaLiga champions control a whopping 75% of the possession, although they were unable to fashion clear-cut chances despite their superiority.
It was pretty much more of the same for Barcelona in the second half and when Antoine Griezmann put them 2-1 up in the 61st minute, there seemed to be only one way that the pendulum could swing.
Their front three were in tandem and conjured numerous chances, with Jan Oblak standing in their way on many occasions, although they beat him twice only to see the goals chalked off by VAR.
Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez had nine shots at goal between them (more than Atletico Madrid had as a team) but whereas Los Colchoneros took advantage of their few chances, their opponents were more wasteful on the night.
When sides fail to make the most of their chances against a quality side like Atleti, they are mostly asking for trouble and that happened to be the case when Vitolo won a penalty against the run of play in the 80th minute and five minutes later, Angel Correa made Barcelona pay for their frivolity when he scored his fourth goal of the campaign.
#3 Diego Simeone made inspired changes
Diego Simeone is easily one of the best managers of his generation and his work at Atletico Madrid is vastly underrated perhaps due to his more pragmatic methods. However, while many might not be fans of his ultra-defensive methods, the 49-year-old's tactical nous is not in doubt.
The former River Pate manager regularly alters the course of matches with his substitutions and this was also the case in the clash with Barcelona.
His first substitution saw him haul off Hector Herrera for Koke at half-time and this proved to be a stroke of genius, as his skipper scored with virtually his first kick of the game to put Atletico Madrid ahead.
His next change was more fortuitous, with Koke going off for Marcos Llorente after an injury and the former Real Madrid man helped bring solidity to the midfield and limit Barcelona's control (although he wasted a good chance late on when he elected to shoot at goal rather than square for Morata).
The third and final substitution saw Renan Lodl replaced with Vitolo, with Saul Niguez dropping back into the left-back role.
This was another inspired change. as the former Sevilla man was a thorn in the flesh of the Barcelona defence, constantly putting them on the backfoot with his direct running. It came as no surprise when he won the penalty to draw Atleti level.
It is no hidden secret that Diego Simeone has found the going tough against Barcelona in his managerial career but in Jeddah, he masterminded a famous victory to send his side to the final of the Spanish Super Cup.
#2 VAR strikes again
Barcelona have been beneficiaries of VAR in the past but they got the other side of the coin in their clash with Atletico Madrid. The technology has been used in Spain since 2018, while Saudi Arabia implemented its use a year earlier and it was once more deployed in the clash between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
Following a largely uneventful first half, VAR was called into action after Messi thought he had put his side 2-1 up only for the goal to be chalked off for handball, while Gerard Pique also saw a goal ruled out for the tightest of offside decisions.
#1 Shambolic defending from Barcelona cost them late on
While Barcelona might not exactly be famed for their defensive solidity over the years, that was no excuse for the disastrous showing their defenders put up against Atletico Madrid.
The Catalans started the game with two World Cup winners in Gerard Pique and Samuel Umtiti at the heart of defence but the pair would not want to look back on their displays against Diego Simeone's men.
They could have done more to stop Koke's run into the box for the opener, while their defensive high line cost them in the dying embers of the game.
With Barcelona 2-1 up and in total control of the match, perhaps Pique and co. thought the clash was won and consequently switched off but Atletico Madrid made them pay with two late goals to dump them out of the competition.
The two goals came in almost identical fashion, with both Correa and Vitolo being slipped in through on goal by easy passes between the line and this was unforgivable for defenders operating on a world-class level.
The ease with which Atletico Madrid sliced open the Barcelona defence in the closing stages meant that they fashioned more chances in this period than they did in the previous 80 minutes and they could have scored more goals but for wasteful finishing by Llorente and Joao Felix.
Football is a game of 90 minutes and for 80 of those, the Blaugrana were in full control but all their work came undone with a late lapse in concentration by their defenders.
