Atletico's disaster: Atletico Madrid dominates with a 4-0 halftime sweep; both Lukman and Alvarez contribute goals and assists.

At 4 AM on February 13th Beijing time, the opening match of the 2025-26 Copa del Rey semifinals saw Atletico Madrid face Barcelona at home.

In the first half, Joan made a massive blunder, Eric Garcia scored an own goal, Alvarez launched a long pass to initiate an attack, Molina crossed from the right to assist Griezmann’s low shot to extend the lead, Alvarez provided a no-touch assist, new signing Lukman calmly finished, and in stoppage time, Lukman cut back for Alvarez who fired a powerful shot; both completed a goal and assist. In the second half, Cubas’ goal was disallowed, Eric Garcia was sent off with a straight red, and neither side scored further.

In the end, Atletico swept Barcelona 4-0 at home, gaining the upper hand to advance to the Copa del Rey final and ending Barcelona’s six-match winning streak across all competitions. The second leg will be held at Camp Nou on March 4th.

Atletico lined up in a 4-4-2 formation under Simeone, with Griezmann and Alvarez as forwards, a midfield of Little Simeone, Llorente, Koke, and Lukman, a back four of Molina, Pujil, Hinczco, and Ruggeri, and Musso in goal; the starting lineup’s market value was €293 million. Flick deployed a 4-3-3 for Barcelona, with Olmo, Ferran, and Yamal forming the front three, De Jong, Casado, and Fermin in midfield, a back four of Balde, Eric Garcia, Cubas, and Kounde, and Joan Garcia as goalkeeper; the starting eleven’s value was €715 million.

Barcelona’s offense and defense both performed poorly in this match. Ferran is a forward who can’t even properly finish simple chances, raising questions about how he has maintained a long-term position at Barcelona—this is a major failure of the club’s management. The backline was a complete mess, with three defenders scoring below 6 points: left-back Balde, left center-back Eric Garcia, and goalkeeper Joan Garcia. Barcelona lacked a clinical finisher up front, and their left-side defense was full of holes. Atletico scored four goals in the first half, with new signing Lukman boosting their attacking power alongside Alvarez, both contributing goals and assists, while veteran Griezmann also found the net. In the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals, Atletico’s 4-0 lead at halftime, all scored in 11 vs 11 situations, clearly shows how poor Barcelona’s performance was, especially without their key player Pedri, which dropped the team down a level.

Throughout the entire match,Atletico held 34% possession, took 12 shots—2 fewer than Barcelona’s 14—but had 8 shots on target, double Barcelona’s 4..