Atletico Madrid humiliate FC Barcelona in the first leg of Copa del Rey semi-final as Diego Simeone gives Hansi Flick his worst career defeat

Atlético Madrid have exacted their revenge on FC Barcelona for the previous season's humiliation.  (Image credits – Heute; licence details) 

Atletico Madrid rampaged past FC Barcelona in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinal at Wanda Metropolitano as they emerged winners by 4-0. Diego Simeone's side bagged four goals past the clueless Barça defence in the first half itself, and it could've got uglier for the Catalans.

In the second half, Flick's side saw a glimmer of hope when Pau Cubarsi thought he scored a goal, but it was ruled out after an eight-minute check by the VAR. Ferran Torres came close to scoring on multiple occasions, but he squandered each opportunity.

Simeone finally took revenge for last year's elimination in the same stage of the tournament against the Catalans as they went on to lift their 32nd Copa del Rey title. Joan Garcia’s horrendous error gave away a cheap goal to Atletico inside the first ten minutes, and it set the tone for the visitors.

Just six minutes later, Antoine Griezmann bagged their second with a brilliant finish, leaving the Barça defence completely bewildered. Fermin Lopez did hit the woodwork moments later, but that was all from Flick's side in the first half.

Simeone's side did not sit back after scoring two goals and pressed more aggressively, which mounted huge pressure on Barça’s midfield without Pedri. The home side made it 3-0 when Julian Alvarez combined with Ademola Lookman, who slotted it past Joan Garcia with a brilliant finish.

Alvarez piled on the misery moments later as he was completely left unmarked, banging in a brilliant goal, ending his goalless streak. This was for the first time Barcelona had conceded four goals inside the first half since that humiliating 8-2 loss against Bayern in 2020.

Things went from bad to worse for the visitors when Eric Garcia was sent off for a rash tackle, which means he will miss the return leg clash at the Spotify Camp Nou. Hansi Flick's side has all to play for in the return leg on March 3 and would aim to replicate the famous remontada against Paris Saint-Germain back in 2017 when they overturned a similar first leg deficit.

Flick slammed his team for not showing up on the night and admitted that his team started the match too slow, which gifted all the momentum to the home side.

“We didn’t play well as a team. And when you don’t play like that, you don’t play well,” said the German. (sic)

He further added, “There was a lack of pressing. Sometimes it’s good to learn a lesson like that. Then we played better. But we’ll fight. We have two 45-minute halves to score two goals in each half.” (sic)

However, he has promised the fans that they will see a better performance in the second leg, and it was a much-needed wake-up call for the team.

“We’ve had injuries. And that’s part of the game. Sometimes you lose. Today was a wake-up call, a tough defeat. And we’ll be back,” said Flick. (sic)

He added, “We have to accept this lesson. We didn’t play well from the first minute. We have a young team, but that’s no excuse. Then, the second half was better.”  (sic)