Barcelona endured a night to forget on Thursday as they were heavily defeated 4-0 by Atletico Madrid in the opening leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final.
The match, held at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano Stadium, saw Diego Simeone’s men take a commanding lead in the tie, leaving the Catalan giants with a significant deficit to overcome in the return leg.
The scoring began early in the sixth minute under bizarre circumstances when an own goal was credited to Eric García following a major goalkeeping error by Joan García.
Atletico capitalized on Barcelona’s defensive fragility, with Antoine Griezmann and Ademola Lookman adding to the tally before Julián Álvarez capped off a relentless first half with a fourth goal in stoppage time.
Statistical analysts at OptaJose highlighted the historical significance of the collapse, noting that this was only the second time since the 2004/05 season that Barcelona has conceded four goals before the halftime whistle.
The only other occurrence in over two decades was the infamous 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the 2020 Champions League quarterfinals.
The evening’s misery for the Blaugrana was compounded in the second half when Eric García was sent off in the 85th minute, while a potential comeback goal by Pau Cubarsí was overturned by VAR. Barcelona will now look to stage a massive turnaround when they host the second leg at Spotify Camp Nou on March 3.
