Atletico Madrid 4-0 Barcelona: Hansi Flick’s side were torn apart and even the lopsided scoreline was flattering
What to make of this ludicrous game? Barcelona were scythed apart by Atletico Madrid in a first half of total football, but in the second period the game anticlimactically descended into an ugly thing, like a 45-minute medieval spectacle where a crowd is forced into a stadium to watch an inhuman showman strangling a cat.
But first the good bit. Four goals in an all-action first period of this Copa del Rey semi-final tie saw Atletico overrun the Catalans, Joan Garcia’s ridiculous own goal opening the affair, before Ademola Lookman, Antoine Griezmann and Julian Alvarez all netted to make a mockery of their visitors. And even then, the scoreline flattered Barcelona.
Barcelona would need to pull off another historic remontada in the second leg at Camp Nou to reach this competition’s finals, a tall order since at times they barely ever looked like scoring in this one.
In what could only be mercifully characterised as a problem with the turf, or otherwise utter buffoonery, Eric Garcia’s sixth-minute pass to goalkeeper Garcia was harmless, with no Atletico player in sight. But the shotstopper somehow failed to trap the ball, and it rolled beneath his feet and across the goal line.
Garcia dashed back to clear, swatting the ball back into his penalty area, but even then Lookman was waiting to dispatch it back into the net. Goal-line technology signalled that it had earlier crossed the line.
Perhaps Atletico had sent an initial warning in the opening stages when clever team play allowed Giuliano Simeone through with a clear shot at goal. The winger blew it but there was more to come. All of Atletico’s goals were nearly identical; fluid passing left and right, perfectly punishing spaces all over Barcelona’s defensive third.
Lookman received the ball in space on the left and passed it to Alvarez, who sent a cross-field pass into Nahuel Molina. The right-back then played in Griezmann, who swept the ball into the net to double his side’s advantage.
Then it was Simeone racing down the right and slipping a pass to Alvarez, who smoothly sent it across to Lookman, the latter converting to make it three in about half an hour. Atletico should have had a lot more but the finishing was less than perfect. Then in stoppage time Lookman laid the ball off to Alvarez and the former Manchester City man rifled a shot into the net from the edge of the box. Fermin Lopez’s effort that struck the woodwork was Barcelona’s only decent attempt.
Then came a second half where everyone grew tetchy. It didn’t help that it took the video assistant referee more than seven minutes to decide that Robert Lewandowski’s heel had been offside and therefore Pau Cubarsi’s early second half toe-poke into the net would not count.
Barcelona tried to rally but there was just too little creativity. With Marcus Rashford, Raphinha and Pedri all missing through injury and Lamine Yamal shackled, the Catalans’ attempts to go forward were pitiful, like a blind gin horse making a doleful round. Yamal kept shooting the ball into bodies in attempts to pass. And then encouraged by Diego Simeone on the touchline, Atletico forced the game into a non-event, continuously disrupting it, exaggerating fouls.
At one point a skirmish broke out and bodies streamed out of the technical area and onto the pitch. It didn’t help that Barcelona’s passing was skittish and they easily made poor challenges.
Lopez’s poor pass into defender Garcia was soon intercepted by Alex Baena and the Barcelona player kicked him in the shin when he could have run though on goal. Garcia was initially awarded a yellow card but it was soon upgraded to a red after a VAR review. The defender immediately headed down the tunnel, and it seemed Barcelona’s hopes of winning another domestic cup this season went with him.
