Atletico Madrid crushes Barcelona with a clean four-goal victory in the Copa del Rey semifinals
Atletico Madrid taught their guest and rival Barcelona a harsh lesson after overwhelming them with a clean four-goal victory (4-0) yesterday evening, in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals, putting one foot firmly in the final before the anticipated return leg on March 3.
* A Fiery First Half … and Catalan Collapse
The team of Argentine coach Diego Simeone entered the match with clear determination, exploiting the fragility of the Catalan defense to the fullest, effectively ending the match within just 45 minutes.
The start was shocking for Barcelona; just six minutes in, defender Eric Garcia misplayed a back pass to his goalkeeper Juan Garcia, who failed to control it, allowing it to trickle into the net, giving the home side the lead with an "own goal."
Before the visitors could recover from the shock, they received a second blow in the 14th minute, when their former player, Frenchman Antoine Griezmann, scored a beautiful goal following a precise pass from Argentine Nahuel Molina.
Barcelona tried to respond quickly, and Fermín López nearly reduced the deficit, but his shot hit the crossbar (20).
Atletico countered with a dangerous attack, where Argentine Julián Álvarez nearly added a third, but Frenchman Jules Koundé cleared the ball off the goal line (24).
* Lookman and Álvarez … The Decisive Duo
Atletico did not wait long to finish off their opponent, scoring the third goal in the 30th minute through new Nigerian arrival Ademola Lookman with a stunning shot after a pass from Álvarez.
German coach Hansi Flick tried to salvage the situation by bringing on veteran Polish striker Robert Lewandowski in place of Marc Casado (37), but the change bore no fruit.
In fact, Álvarez struck again in stoppage time of the first half (45+2), benefiting from Lookman's pass, scoring the fourth goal and completing a nightmarish evening for the Blaugrana.
* Shocking Statistics and VAR Dashes Hopes
According to "Opta" statistics, Barcelona had not conceded four goals in a first half since the 2004-2005 season except for once, which was the historic defeat against Bayern Munich with a score of 8-2 in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2020 in Lisbon, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the second half, Barcelona thought they had reduced the deficit through Pau Kubsarci from a free kick taken by Lewandowski (51), but the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) disallowed the goal for offside after a lengthy review exceeding five minutes.
After that, Atletico returned to their preferred style of tightly closing their areas, relying on defensive solidity and tactical discipline, thwarting all attempts by the visitors to come back.
Barcelona's suffering increased with the red card shown to Alex Garcia in the 85th minute, leaving the team to finish the match with ten players, on a night that will remain etched in memory.
* A Step Towards the Final
With this broad victory, Atletico Madrid is strongly approaching the final, while Barcelona needs a football miracle in the return leg to turn the tables and keep their hopes alive in defending the title.
