Atletico Madrid delivered a stunning 4-0 victory over Barcelona in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal at the Metropolitano on Wednesday evening, leaving Hansi Flick's side needing a historic comeback to keep their title defense alive. All four goals came in a devastating first half as Atletico tore through Barcelona's backline with clinical precision. The nightmare began in the sixth minute when Barcelona goalkeeper Joan Garcia failed to control a back pass from Eric Garcia, the ball rolling underneath his boot and crossing the line for a calamitous own goal. Antoine Griezmann doubled the lead in the 14th minute, finishing calmly after Nahuel Molina's clever pass from the right flank.
Ademola Lookman made it 3-0 in the 33rd minute, arriving unmarked at the far post to finish off a swift counter-attack that exposed Barcelona's high defensive line. Julian Alvarez then struck a powerful shot into the top corner from just inside the box in first-half stoppage time to complete the rout before the interval. The damage was so severe that Flick pulled Robert Lewandowski off the pitch in the 37th minute with the match already beyond rescue, replacing the striker with Marc Casado in an attempt to shore up the midfield and prevent further embarrassment.
The second half brought no respite for Barcelona despite improved possession. Pau Cubarsi appeared to pull a goal back in the 50th minute when he bundled the ball home from a set piece, but the VAR review stretched to an agonizing eight minutes before the goal was chalked off for an offside that replays suggested was marginal at best. Flick described the lengthy VAR intervention as a mess, adding to Barcelona's frustration on a night where nothing went their way. Eric Garcia then compounded the misery by receiving a straight red card in the 86th minute for a reckless challenge, meaning Barcelona will be without the defender for the second leg.
Atletico defender Marcos Llorente expressed satisfaction with his team's performance, stating that the team did everything right and that they stuck together at the back, pressed high up the pitch, and broke up the space effectively. Diego Simeone's side demonstrated the tactical discipline and counter-attacking ruthlessness that has defined their season, with Griezmann, Lookman, and Alvarez combining to devastating effect against a Barcelona defense that was repeatedly cut open and left slipping all over the pitch.
The second leg is scheduled for March 3 at the Camp Nou, where Barcelona will need to overturn the heaviest Copa del Rey semifinal deficit in their modern history while missing Eric Garcia through suspension. In the other semifinal, Real Sociedad hold a 1-0 advantage over Athletic Bilbao heading into their return fixture. Atletico appear all but certain to reach the final, with the first-leg scoreline matching the 4-0 result from April 1989, the last time the Madrid club inflicted such a comprehensive defeat on Barcelona at this stage of the competition.
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