Tag: Supercopa de Espana

Real Madrid took on cross-town rivals Atletico Madrid in the Supercopa de España final on Sunday. The game went 90 minutes without a goal, and then in the waning minutes of extra time, the score was still notched 0-0.

Then, all hell broke loose.

Real Madrid had a chance to break the deadlock in the 115th minute, and pushed plenty of players forward to try and get a goal before the match went to penalty kicks. The risk didn’t pay off — Atletico cleared the ball successfully, then thanks to a lucky bounce, they were able to play in striker Alvaro Morata in alone on goal.

Morata had a clear breakaway, and a chance to win the game … until Real Madrid’s 21-year-old midfielder Federico Valverde brought him down with a vicious and cynical foul outside the penalty box.

It was a straight red card, one of the most obvious reds you’ll ever see in soccer outside of a punch being thrown. It was evil, cynical, and gross, and it was also completely brilliant.

Yep. Had to be done. Horrible way to lose for Atleti, especially with this chance to win it late in extra time spoiled by a filthy, cynical, yet necessary play. #RMAATM pic.twitter.com/PdI3IgnbCp

— Kevin Egan (@kev_egan) January 12, 2020

After the foul, Atletico players were irate, and a massive shoving match ensued while the referee doled out yellow cards and tried to restore order.

You can see why they were so mad — Valverde exploited a loophole in soccer’s rules with the tackle.

By fouling him outside the box, it didn’t matter that it was a horrible tackle and denied an obvious and clear goalscoring opportunity — Atletico don’t get a penalty kick. A few yards farther down the field, and Morata would have earned a PK, one that Atletico most likely would have finished.

But it was outside the box. So Atletico was forced to take a direct free kick with Real Madrid getting to set up a wall. They didn’t convert. Valverde was ejected, but for Real Madrid, they didn’t care much. There were only five minutes remaining in the match.

They held off Atletico with 10 ment, then Real Madrid won the game in a penalty shootout, 4-1.

After the game, Valverde apologized to Morata.

Via the BBC: “I know it’s not good what I did, but I didn’t have any other option.”

What say you about the play?

[opinary poll=”did-valverde-make-the-right-play_forthew” customer=”forthewin”]