Xabi Alonso slams ‘unacceptable’ behaviour towards Real Madrid star from Diego Simeone after Supercopa de Espana semi-final

Real Madrid boss Xabi Alonso has slammed Diego Simeone after his altercation with Vinicius Jr. in their Supercopa de España clash on Thursday. He labeled the behavior 'unacceptable', adding that the Atletico Madrid boss shouldn't have addressed his player in that way.

The two city rivals clashed in the Supercopa de España semi-finals on Thursday at King Abdullah Sport City Stadium in Saudi Arabia. With Real Madrid leading 2-1, Alonso decided to substitute Vinicius Jr. in the 81st minute with Arda Guler. While going to the bench, the Brazilian winger had a verbal spat with Atletico manager Diego Simeone.

After the game, Xabi Alonso spoke about the incident, saying (h/t Madrid Xtra):

"I don’t like it when someone addresses my players like that. It’s unacceptable.”

He further added during the press conference (h/t Managing Madrid):

“I try to be respectful to the players on the opposing team and I don’t usually address them. When I saw what he said to him, I liked it less. That’s not an example of good sportsmanship. Not everything goes, you have to have respect for your opponent. Everything that happens on the pitch has a limit.”

Both Vinicius and Simeone received a yellow card for the spat. Meanwhile, Real Madrid won the game 2-1 and qualified for the final.

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Xabi Alonso opens up on Real Madrid's win over Atletico Madrid

In a hard-fought Madrid derby, Real Madrid won 2-1 in the Supercopa de España semi-finals on Thursday. Federico Valverede opened the scoring in the second minute with a thunderous free-kick. Rodrygo Goes made it 2-0 in the 55th minute, before Alexander Sorloth reduced Atletico's deficit three minutes later.

Diego Simeone's side made 21 attempts, with six being on target, as compared to Los Blancos' eight attempts, with four being on target. When asked if it was a fair result after the game, Xabi Alonso said:

“It was a very competitive match. Fede’s early goal gave us the advantage and made us change a little bit. We didn’t suffer too much in the first half. There were moments for everything because it was a semi-final, but this team knows how to compete. It was a very intense, very competitive match. At 1-2, we had to change, we stabilised and suffered. This is the path to Sunday’s title and we’re in the final.”

Real Madrid will now face arch-rivals Barcelona in the final in Jeddah on Sunday, January 11.