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Atletico Madrid stun Barcelona with 4-0 win in Copa del Rey semi-final first leg Julian Alvarez, Ademola Lookman and Antoine Griezmann all on target after Joan Garcia own goal Hansi Flick's side without injured wingers Marcus Rashford and Raphinha Real Sociedad beat Athletic Club 1-0 in first leg on Wednesday Second legs take place on 3 and 4 March Keifer Mac Donald Atletico Madrid v Barcelona Elizabeth Conway BBC Sport Spanish football reporter at the Bernabeu It’s a massive night here at Atlético’s Metropolitano
Stadium as we build up to the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final. If you're not familiar with the competition, the Copa del Rey
is Spain’s main domestic cup and is very comparable to England’s FA Cup. It was
founded in 1903 making it the the oldest tournament in Spanish football and is
one of the most historic and prestigious competitions in the country. Last time Atletico won this competition was in the 2012-13
season whilst Barcelona are the current holders of the cup. Atletico Madrid v Barcelona (20: 00 GMT) Atletico Madrid: Musso, Molina, Pubill, Hancko, Ruggeri, Simeone, Llorente, Koke, Lookman, Griezmann, Alvarez Subs: Oblak, Esquivel, Lenglet, Gimenez, Le Normand, Baena, Gonzalez, Vargas, Mendoza, Almada, Sorloth Barcelona: Garcia, Kounde, Cubarsi, Garcia, Balde, De Jong, Casado, Yamal, Olmo, Lopez, Torres Subs: Kochen, Szczesny, Martin, Cancelo, Torrents, Araujo, Bernal, Marques, Hernandez, Lewandowski, Bardghji Atletico Madrid v Barcelona (20: 00 GMT) Barcelona will be without attackers Marcus Rashford and Raphinha tonight. England international Rashford is ruled out due to a knee injury he suffered in his side's 3-0 win over Real Mallorca on Saturday, while Raphinha is sidelined because of a thigh complaint. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick said: "I think this is not good news, but in the end I believe in my team always. "When it's like this, the situation is not easy, we grow and this is also necessary for tomorrow. " Let's get you the full team news, shall we? Atletico Madrid v Barcelona (20: 00 GMT) Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Atletico Madrid v Barcelona in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final. This fixture has delivered plenty of classics over the years - here's hoping for another one tonight. Atletico Madrid put four goals past Barcelona in the first half of Thursday's game Atletico Madrid produced an outstanding first-half display of attacking football as they thrashed La Liga leaders Barcelona in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final. A bad night for the visitors also saw them denied a goal back in the second half when, after a record-equalling eight-minute check by the video assistant referee (VAR), Pau Cubarsi's strike was ruled out for offside. This was the second time in as many years these two sides had met at this stage of the competition, with Barcelona winning last year on their way to lifting the trophy for a 32nd time. But Diego Simeone's side gained revenge in emphatic fashion by putting four goals past them in an astonishing first half. Atleti's opener set the tone for what was a disastrous evening for Barcelona as Eric Garcia's backpass to Joan Garcia rolled under the goalkeeper's foot and trickled into his own net. The hosts doubled their lead in the 14th minute when the competition's top scorer this season, Antoine Griezmann, curled home a fine finish against his former club. From then on, Atleti took command and looked capable of scoring with every attack. Fermin Lopez did hit the woodwork for Barcelona, but that was a rare opportunity in the opening period as Atleti hunted for more goals. They added a third in the 33rd minute when Giuliano Simeone broke down the right before passing to Julian Alvarez and the former Manchester City forward clipped the ball across to Ademola Lookman, who drove in his second goal in as many games for his new club. Argentine Alvarez then ended his two-month, 11-match goal drought with an emphatic finish, thumping an unstoppable drive into the back of the net from distance in first-half added time. More misfortune followed for the visitors, who thought they had a goal back in the second half when Cubarsi prodded in after being set up by Robert Lewandowski. However, VAR promptly decided to review the incident, with the check lasting so long the goalkeeper's were thrown footballs to warm up with. Eventually, it was disallowed for offside and the length of the check equalled the record set by the eight-minute VAR stoppage during Bournemouth's FA Cup fifth-round win against Wolves last season. Garcia and Barcelona's night got even worse when the defender was sent off with five minutes left following a VAR review after he fouled Alex Baena as the substitute burst through towards goal. The loss has left Barcelona with it all to do when they host the 10-time winners in the return leg on 3 March. After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users. Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable Java Script in your browser Manager: Diego Simeone Formation: 4 - 4 - 2 Manager: Hansi Flick Formation: 4 - 3 - 3 Manager: Diego Simeone Formation: 4 - 4 - 2 Manager: Hansi Flick Formation: 4 - 3 - 3 Copa del Rey All competitions All competitions All competitions Copyright © 2026 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.


