In the darkest night of the Hansi Flick era, Barcelona fell to a humilliating 4–0 defeat against Atlético Madrid in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals.
Barcelona were meticulously dismantled from the start and an own goal from Eric García plus strikes from Antoine Griezmann, Ademola Lookman and Julián Álvarez saw the Catalans go into the break trailing by four goals for the first time since the 1953–1954 season.
Atlético took their foot off the gas in the second half, but things still got worse for Barça. Pau Cubarsí’s goal was ruled out for a microscopic offside and García was sent-off in the dying minutes for denying Álex Baena a clear goalscoring opportunity.
The reigning Copa del Rey champions now have a mountain to climb in the second leg if they want to repeat in the competition from last season.
But aside from that, this performance evidenced the glaring weaknesses of a team that might usually be good enough domestically, but could easily be exposed against the top teams in Europe.
The Problem That Won’t Go Away
As prolific as Barcelona’s attack has become ever since Flick’s arrival, this season at least, defense has been equally as dreadful. Against good teams, the issues have unsurprisingly been worse.
It’s alarming just how easy it is to harm Barcelona. Flick’s, defensive system has completely collapsed without him making an effort to fix it, but a number of players also must be held responsible for the seemingly never-ending problems. Here, against Atlético Madrid, Barça’s defensive performance was embarrassing—and that might be putting it too kindly.
Goalkeeper Joan García has been solid since joining last summer, but he’s also been prone to make mistakes at the worst times. Cubarsí’s regression this season is glaring and the same applies to starting fullbacks Alejandro Balde and Jules Koundé—the latter, at least, was fine this time. Eric García has been good all year, but him featuring in every single game so far this term also says a lot about the state of Barça’s defense.
The woes date back to August and there’s no evidence that suggests they’ll be solved before the end of the season. Because of this, it’s impossible to consider Barcelona as real contenders to win the Champions League—their main goal entering the campaign—and the writing is on the wall of how their eventual elimination could transpire.
Barcelona Player Ratings vs. Atlético Madrid (4-2-3-1)
GK: Joan García—4.8: Had a sensational one-on-one save early but his night will be remembered by the egregious error that led to Atlético’s opener in what truly was one of the blunders of the season.
RB: Jules Koundé—7.2: The only Barça defender that can return to Catalonia with his head held high. He made crucial emergency intervention, including a goal-line clearance that briefly denied Atléti’s third—if only for a moment.
CB: Pau Cubarsí—5.6: Often a step too late in his reactions and looked completely overwhelmed and confused by the speed of Atléti’s attacks.
CB: Eric García—3.8: Lacked intensity in his marking, caught watching multiple times, played runners onside, and although it was more on the goalkeeper, he could’ve played a better pass to avoid an own-goal. Crowned his nightmare night with a terrible challenge that resulted in a red card. His worst performance of the season.
LB: Alejandro Balde—5.6: Never understood that Atléti tirelessly targeted the space he left behind whenever he ventured forward. He was constantly out of position, which consequently disrupted the entire backline, leading to three goals.
DM: Frenkie de Jong—6.8: Was fine as a distributor in possession but failed to track his man on multiple occassions, struggling with the speed of Atléti’s counter-attacks.
DM: Marc Casadó—6.3: Overwhelmed the entirety of the game, he offered no solutions in midfield to try and contain Atléti’s quick transitions. Spent the majority of the contest chasing shadows, was often erratic on the ball, got booked and exited the game in the 37th minute.
RW: Lamine Yamal—7.7: He was rarely in contact with the ball, but failed to make an impact when he got the chance. Yamal was unable to get the better of what was often two defenders covering him.
AM: Fermín López—7.3: For what it’s worth, he was Barcelona’s best player on the night. Looked menacing all game, getting away from defenders and trying to make something happen.
LM: Dani Olmo—7.0: Playing out of position on the left wing, Olmo failed to have his regular influence in Barcelona’s attack. Flick’s gamble didn’t pay off and he drifted centrally when Lewandowski came on, only to improve slightly.
ST: Ferran Torres—6.2: Tirelessly pressed Atléti’s backline but didn’t find any success. Didn’t have the service required to try and get Barcelona back into the game.
SUB: Robert Lewandowski (37’ for Casadó)—6.2: Entered the match when Barcelona were already three goals down and failed to make any significant impact.
SUB: Ronald Araújo (77’ for Cubarsí)—6.3: Spent most of his cameo as a target man inside Atléti’s penalty area but never got a close to giving Barça some hope.
SUB: João Cancelo (77’ for Balde)—6.1: Two defensive recoveries were the only actions where his services were needed.
SUB: Gerard Martín (88’ for Fermín López)—N/A:
Subs not used: Diego Kochen (GK), Wojciech Szczęsny (GK), Jofre Torrents, Marc Bernal, Tommy Marques, Juan Hernández, Roony Bardghji.
What the Ratings Tell Us
- Pedri and Raphinha were deeply missed for the first time since the pair suffered injuries. Marc Casadó was extremely poor to the point he was hooked before the break and Dani Olmo looked uncomfortable playing on the left wing. Barcelona need their injured stars to return if they want to have any hope of winning major trophies come May.
- Barcelona’s egregious defensive performance was a collective effort, with everyone from the goalkeeper to the center backs, left back and defensive midfielder contributing. With little alternatives on the bench, it’s difficult to imagine how Flick can fix the dramatic problems.
- The striker duo of Torres and Lewandowski were nothing but spectators. Barcelona were toothless in the final third and the pair of forwards had no chance to make an impact. As was the case in humbling defeats to Chelsea and Sevilla earlier in the season, Flick’s attacking system crumbled in the face of significant adversity, continuing a worrying trend.
The Numbers That Explain Disastrous Defeat
- Atlético Madrid scored four first half goals while only accumulating 1.64 xG, highlighting how it didn’t take much for the hosts to dismantle Barcelona. It’s become a trend for Flick’s side to concede way more goals than the xG stat would suggest. In the end, the hosts still only mustered 2.33 xG.
- Barcelona’s first shot on goal came when they were already down three goals. Furthermore, they had already made one substitution at this point, clearly showcasing just how egregious their performance was from the start.
- Barcelona failed to score against a domestic rival for the first time in 56 games, a streak that started back on Dec. 15, 2024.
| Statistic | Atlético Madrid | Barcelona |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 34% | 66% |
| Expected Goals (xG) | 2.33 | 1.02 |
| Total Shots | 12 | 14 |
| Shots on Target | 8 | 4 |
| Big Chances | 4 | 2 |
| Passing Accuracy | 82% | 89% |
| Fouls Committed | 16 | 9 |
| Corners | 5 | 8 |
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Barcelona Player Ratings vs. Atletico Madrid: Humiliation All But Ends Copa Defense.
