Diego Simeone took all the headlines in the Madrid derby, even from Vinicius Jr.
The Atletico Madrid coach saw his side lose 2-1 to arch rivals Real Madrid in the Supercopa semi-finals, but more embarrassing he saw some mindgames backfire.
After the Atleti bench went wild over a potential Antonio Rudiger handball, and Vinicius couldn’t help but get involved.
Yet that wasn’t the end of the story as Movistar picked up a heated exchange between Simeone and Vinicius soon after.
They claim the coach said: “Florentino [Perez] is going to fire you, remember what I’m telling you.”
Later, when Vinicius was withdrawn in the 81st minute Simeone told him: “They’re whistling you.”
The Argentine may have had a point on both counts, but his jibes had little impact with Vinicius not a protagonist and the match decided elsewhere.
Yet his actions still left him embarrassed, and cornered by rival Alonso.
“I try to be respectful to opposing players, and when I heard what he said, I liked it even less,” the Madrid coach said post-match.
“Simeone isn’t exactly a role model, and not everything is acceptable.”
That wasn’t all either, Vinicius had his say later on social media.
“You’ve lost another knockout match,” he wrote in an Instagram reply.
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