Barcelona 3-0 Atlético Madrid (3-4 agg), Copa del Rey: Recap

Barcelona’s defense King’s Cup The title ended in the semi-finals thanks to a 3–0 second leg victory over Atlético Madrid at the Camp Nou, which was not enough to overcome the 4–0 deficit from the first leg. Barça dominated the entire match and almost achieved a miracle. Ascentbut Diego Simeone’s troops found a way to maintain a narrow margin and qualify for the Spanish Cup final.

Reactions and observations

• Diego Simeone has mastered the art of defensive game plans in knockout matches, and his strategy was quite clear from the start: Atleti set up in a 5-4-1 with Giuliano Simeone as winger, and the Colchoneros parked the bus by seeking to limit Barça’s attack and trying to create danger on the counter.

• Barca presented a very solid offensive plan and passed the ball quickly and decisively all over the pitch, and were not afraid to shoot early from distance to test Juan Musso in goal. There was bad news when Jules Kounde had to be replaced by Alejandro Balde due to injury, but this moved João Cancelo to right back and made the team even more attacking.

• The Catalans were really good with the ball, but it took them half an hour before a short corner ended with a nice move and an assist from Lamine Yamal for a Marc Bernal strike. It woke up a Camp Nou that had started hot but quickly became nervous as Barca struggled to score, but the stadium was alive again.

• Atlético reacted well by being behind and created a few chances with Antoine Griezmann, but Barça controlled the visitors’ counter-attacks quite well for the most part.

• Then came a mammoth sequence in the game: Ademola Lookman missed a wide-open header in the box on a counter that would have ended the tie, and Barca were immediately awarded a penalty at the other end when Pedri was brought down by Marc Pubill inside the box. Raphinha scored from the penalty spot and Barca went into half-time with a valuable two-goal lead that gave them a real chance of a comeback.

• Barça continued the momentum thanks to Raphinha’s goal until the start of the second half and completely blitzed Atleti, and that’s when Juan Musso shone: the goalkeeper made some splendid saves and key interventions which prevented Barça from scoring at least once before the hour mark, which would have truly ignited the tie.

• There was more bad injury news as Balde was forced off the field with an apparent muscle problem as Barca lost both of their starting full-backs on the night, and things started to feel a little desperate and tense with 20 minutes to go.

• And then, hope: another short corner resulted in an exceptional cross from Cancelo and a beautiful volley from Bernal, and Barça led 3-0 with 20 minutes to go and only needed a goal to force extra time.

• Hansi Flick made some crazy tactical moves, putting Ronald Araujo up front as a striker and playing Pedri in central defense, and Barca had almost everyone up front looking for the miracle.

• Barça tried absolutely everything: several crosses into the box, shots from distance and a very strong penalty which was ignored by the referee and the VAR when Matteo Ruggeri pushed Raphinha in the back, but the fourth goal never arrived and the Ascent This attempt ended in a heartbreak at the final whistle.

• Despite the elimination, it’s a superb performance that makes you proud and hopeful about this team’s chances for the rest of the season. Barca played with heart, passion and also showed fantastic attacking quality, and it was the kind of game that makes you fall in love with a team, even in defeat. Well done, boys.