February 13, (THEWILL) — Ademola Lookman scored and assisted another goal as Atletico Madrid overwhelmed Barcelona with a dominant 4-0 victory in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg at the Metropolitano, putting themselves in a commanding position ahead of the second leg. The hosts required just six minutes to break the deadlock when Eric Garcia’s misplaced backpass caught goalkeeper Joan Garcia off guard, rolling beneath his foot and into the net for an own goal.
The floodgates opened further when Antoine Griezmann, facing his former club, doubled the advantage in the 14th minute. Nahuel Molina delivered a cross from the right flank, allowing the French forward to finish low into the bottom-left corner. Barcelona struck the crossbar through Fermin Lopez in response, but Atletico remained relentless in attack.
Lookman added his goal in the 33rd minute, converting Julian Alvarez’s intelligent lay-off with a precise finish into the bottom-right corner. The Argentinian midfielder then completed the first-half rout in stoppage time, firing home after Lookman’s assist to claim his first goal since early December.
Barcelona thought they had reduced the deficit early in the second half when Pau Cubarsi found the net, but VAR intervened to rule out the effort due to Robert Lewandowski’s offside position in the build-up. Atletico continued to control proceedings, whilst the visitors’ struggles intensified when Eric Garcia received a red card five minutes from full-time following a high challenge on Alex Baena, with the initial yellow upgraded after VAR review.
The comfortable margin leaves Barcelona facing a significant challenge in the return fixture. Atletico’s comprehensive performance showed their determination to reach the final, whilst the sending-off further complicates the visitors’ hopes of overturning the deficit.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
