A furious war of words broke out between Vinicius Junior and Diego Simeone as Real Madrid saw off Atletico Madrid to reach the Spanish Super Cup final.
Federico Valverde opened the scoring with a breathtaking free-kick in only the second minute of Thursday’s compelling albeit bad-tempered semi-final contest in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Ten minutes into the second half, the Uruguayan turned provider as Los Blancos doubled their advantage through Rodrygo, who beat Jan Oblak with a smart touch and finish.
Atleti threatened to mount a fightback as Alexander Sorloth halved the deficit just moments later, but Xabi Alonso’s men held firm to win 2-1 and set up a Clasico meeting with the holders Barcelona in this year’s final.
It was an absorbing affair from start to finish between the two city rivals, but tempers frayed on several occasions across the 90 minutes – perhaps most notably in the first half when Vinicius and Simeone almost came to blows on the touchline.
Both Vinicius and Simeone were seen spewing venom and gesticulating towards one another, with viewers initially unaware of what was being said between Atleti’s hot-headed manager and the Brazilian.
However, Movistar’s cameras claim to have picked up Simeone’s side of the heated conversation – and it’s clear there is no love lost between the pair.
Prefer us to the others? Then tell Google!
As a loyal Metro reader, we want to make sure you never miss our stories when searching for your news. Whether it is the latest politics news explained, live football coverage or a showbiz scoop.
Click here and tick Metro.co.uk to ensure you see stories from us first in Google Search.
The Atleti head coach was allegedly heard telling Vinicius: ‘Florentino Perez [Real Madrid president] is going to kick you out, remember that!
‘Remember that they’re going to kick you out. They’re going to kick you out, remember what I’m telling you.’
Later on, when Vinicius was taken off for Arda Guler in the closing stages, the feud reignited again and an all-out melee – involving both sets of players and staff – exploded in front of the two dugouts.
Simeone is said to have sparked the reaction after barking, ‘Listen to the people!’, at Vinicius while pointing in the direction of audible boos in the stands at Jeddah’s King Abdullah Sport City Stadium.
Simeone’s taunts come amid mounting speculation over Vinicius’ Madrid future, with the forward now without a goal in 15 games in all competitions.
The 2024 Ballon d’Or runner-up is said to have grown increasingly unsettled in the Spanish capital and there have been incessant rumours linking him with both Chelsea and the Saudi Pro League.
Tellingly, Alonso did not shake hands with Simeone after the final whistle and blasted the Argentine’s behaviour on the touchline while facing the media after Madrid’s victory.
‘I heard what Simeone said to Vini, and I didn’t like it,’ Alonso told reporters.
‘You cannot talk like that, some things cross the line.’
Prior to Thursday’s semi-final, Jude Bellingham threw his support behind Vinicius, who was recently targeted by whistles in the Bernabeu crowd amid his barren spell in front of goal.
‘I can only speak from my perspective. Vinicius as a player and a person is under a huge amount of pressure, and the things that he does on the pitch are from pure emotion,’ Bellingham said.
‘Sometimes I think people forget it’s a human doing those things. I think that’s led to a block of form in front of goal.
‘For me as a team-mate, I look at Vinicius as an electric player I can give the ball to, and can create something out of nothing.
‘Goals don’t tell the whole story, sometimes he’s created a lot, given assists, but it’s important he gets back to his best. It’s important to look at the whole pie.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
