Barcelona director plays down Valverde sacking speculation after Atletico defeat

Ernesto Valverde is under growing pressure at Barcelona, but director Guillermo Amor played down talk of a possible sacking.

Director of institutional and sporting relations at FC Barcelona, Guillermo Amor played down suggestions Ernesto Valverde was close to being sacked after Barcelona's Supercopa de Espana loss to Atlético Madrid.

Barça conceded twice in the final nine minutes in a 3-2 semi-final defeat to Atletico in Saudi Arabia on Thursday.

While they are top of LaLiga, Barca have won just one of their past five games, a period which has included three draws to reportedly put the pressure on Valverde once more.

However, Amor – the club's director of institutional and sporting relations – played down talk Valverde was close to being sacked.

"It has bothered us a lot to lose. We continue, this is very long," he told Movistar+. There are many and very important [games]. Of this you say about Valverde, there is nothing."

After Koke's 46th-minute opener, Barça led thanks to goals from Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann.

However, Alvaro Morata's penalty brought Atlético level before Angel Correa scored the winner four minutes from the end.

Amor lamented the result, with Messi and Gerard Pique both having goals disallowed by VAR for marginal offside decisions.

"When you have played football, you know that these things can happen, especially in important games with strong teams," he said. What you think is won, you can lose. In the summary of the game, I think we have dominated the first half. They advance and the two goals that were annulled indicate that we were close and we were superior."