At 22:00 Lithuanian time in the capital of Catalonia, the second leg of the King's Cup semi-final was played.
At "Camp Nou" stadium, Barcelona and Madrid's Atletico players fought for a spot in the tournament final. After a tough and dramatic battle, which saw three red cards, Luis Enrique's team triumphed.
Diego Simeone's players started the match with aggressive play in the opponents' half, but Jasper Cillessen responded confidently to all Atletico's attempts.
Throughout the first half, the Catalans looked worse than their opponents, but successful play by Lionel Messi in the 43rd minute brought the hosts a goal. After a strong shot by the Argentine, which was saved by the Atletico goalkeeper, Luis Suarez was the first to reach the ball and put the Catalonians ahead.
However, even after conceding a goal, Atletico's situation did not change - they still needed two goals. In the second half, "Rojiblancos" continued their aggressive play in attack, but the finishing of D. Simeone's team's attacks was lacking.
In the 57th minute, there was hope - Sergi Roberto received a second yellow card, leaving Atletico to play against ten Barcelona players. The result could have been leveled soon after, but the sideline referee saw an offside in Antoine Griezmann's move, even though it was clear in the replay that the Frenchman had not violated any rules.
In the 69th minute, the balance of power was restored - Yannick Carrasco aggressively stopped Arda Turan and received a second yellow card.
In the 80th minute, Kevin Gameiro had a great opportunity to equalize the score, but the Frenchman failed to convert the penalty earned by Gerard Pique - the striker's shot went wide.
Nevertheless, K. Gameiro corrected his mistake shortly after and, after a great pass from A. Griezmann, sent the ball into the opponents' net.
During the remaining time, Atletico pressed the hosts in their own half. D. Simeone's players attacked from the wings and posed dangerous balls, but they failed to score a second goal that would have taken the game into extra time from the Spanish capital.
As if that were not enough, in the 90th minute Luis Suarez received two yellow cards and will be forced to miss the King's Cup final, where they will face the winner of the Vigo "Celta" - "Alaves" pair.
Result:
"Barcelona" 1 - 1 "Atletico" (First leg: 2-1, final result: 3-2) 43' [1 - 0] L. Suarez 83' [1 - 1] K. Gameiro 80' K. Gameiro ("Atletico") missed a penalty kick 57' S. Roberto ("Barcelona") sent off 69' Y. Carrasco ("Atletico") sent off 90' L. Suarez ("Barcelona") sent off
