It was a humiliating night for Copa del Rey holders, FC Barcelona as they slumped to 4-0 defeat on Thursday against Atletico Madrid in their first leg semi-final clash.
Manager Hansi Flick’s men failed to recover after an Eric Garcia own goal sent Diego Simeone’s side ahead early on as disaster struck further with goals from Antoine Griezmann, Ademola Lookman and Julian Alvarez giving Atletico a landslide lead by half-time.
From scoring an own goal, the nightmare continued for Barca defender Garcia who was sent off in the final stages, with Atletico maintaining their significant advantage on the record 32-time winners, which they will take into the second leg at Camp Nou on March 3.
Though both sides missed good scoring opportunities in the second half, Barca’s Pau Cubarsi had a goal disallowed before Garcia was sent off in the final stages and Atletico were able to preserve their significant advantage going into the March 3 second leg at Camp Nou.
Being well off the pace in La Liga and not showing the quality of a side capable of going far in the Champions League, the Copa del Rey represents Atletico’s best chance of silverware this season and having that motivation in mind, the Rojiblancos conjured the best football of their season to completely dismantle the Spanish champions in the first half.
Coach Simeone’s side took the lead after just seven minutes when Garcia’s pass, on the uneven Metropolitano stadium pitch, bobbled towards Joan Garcia and then under the goalkeeper’s foot. Despite the Barca stopper running back towards his goal trying to remedy the situation, the ball still crossed the line first, with Lookman ramming it back into the net for good measure. However, it was recorded as an Eric Garcia own goal.
Things went from bad to worse when former Barca striker Griezmann slid home the second as Atletico breached the Catalans’ high defensive line repeatedly, leaning on the pace of Giuliano Simeone and Lookman. Fermin Lopez hit the crossbar for Barcelona but it was one-way traffic and Atletico nearly got a third when Alvarez’s effort was cleared off the line by Jules Kounde.
Eventually Nigeria international Lookman steered home the third at the end of a fine team move, with overjoyed Atletico coach Simeone racing down the touchline in celebration.
Also on the night, luck finally smiled on Argentine forward, Julian Alvarez as he scored to end his goals’ drought. Having spent much of the season demanding his team take their chances more clinically, all of the Argentine’s dreams came true at once.
Alvarez, who had failed to score in his last 11 matches, ended his drought for Atletico’s fourth, ramming home from just inside the area, even as Atletico goalkeeper Juan Musso saved well from Lopez to keep his clean sheet at the interval.
Barcelona thought they had pulled one back in the second half when Pau Cubarsi netted but it was controversially disallowed after a long VAR review for offside. With a few minutes remaining the league leaders’ night got even worse, when Eric Garcia was sent off for a foul on Alex Baena as he ran through.
Ferran Torres’s poor pass sold his team-mate short and he clumsily felled the Atletico playmaker. Alexander Sorloth and Torres spurned further chances at each end as the game kept its frantic pace until the end.
Earlier on Wednesday, Real Sociedad emerged victorious away from home by beating Athletic Bilbao 1-0 in a Basque Country derby in their first leg semifinals of Copa del Rey. Beñat Turrientes scored the winning goal from close range in the 62nd minute at San Mames Stadium. The return leg will be played on March 4, 2026 at San Sebastian’s Anoeta. – With agency reports
