ATLETI BLITZ PAST POOR BARCA IN COPA DEL REY SEMI-FINAL FIRST LEG.

Atletico Madrid produced a ruthless display to thrash La Liga leaders Barcelona 4-0
in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final on Thursday night at the Wanda
Metropolitano.
Diego Simeone’s side overwhelmed a disjointed Barcelona from the outset and had
the tie virtually sealed before half-time.
The breakthrough came in calamitous fashion when Eric Garcia’s backpass slipped
under Joan Garcia’s foot and rolled into his own net.
Antoine Griezmann swiftly doubled the lead with a superb curling finish against his
former club as Atletico sliced through Barca’s defence at will.
Ademola Lookman added a third after slick work involving Giuliano Simeone and
Julian Alvarez, before Alvarez ended his two-month goal drought with a thunderous
strike in first-half added time.
Barcelona struggled to respond and thought they had pulled one back after the break
through Pau Cubarsi, but an eight-minute VAR review ruled the effort out for offside.
Garcia’s late red card, following another VAR intervention, summed up a miserable
night for the visitors.
Barca now face a daunting task in the return leg on March 3rd while Atletico close in
on a place in the final.