Barcelona were thumped 4-0 by Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi final on Thursday, as Diego Simeone’s side ran riot against a truly dismal Blaugrana side. Hansi Flick’s high line was exposed routinely and ruthlessly throughout a night that the Metropolitano faithful could barely believe.

Atleti were given a huge boost early on as Barca goalkeeper Joan Garcia allowed a back-pass to slip under his boot and roll over the line despite Pau Cubarsi’s efforts to clear. While the net was initially rippled by Ademola Lookman, replays proved it was, in fact, an own goal from the goalkeeper because the ball crossed the line before the Nigeria international got there.

Antoine Griezmann doubled Atleti’s lead before the quarter-hour mark, as the former France international ran onto Nahuel Molina’s through-ball and finished beautifully. Jules Kounde then cleared another Atletico effort off the line to keep Barca in the game after they had themselves hit the crossbar through Fermin Lopez.

The Rojiblancos once again feasted on Barcelona’s near-suicidal high line to add a third before half-time, as a beautifully flowing move ending with a fine Lookman finish. There was still time before the break for Fermin to be sent through one-on-one, but Juan Musso was quick off his line to save, and just two minutes later, Julian Alvarez added a fourth with a vicious finish from the edge of the box. 

Cubarsi thought he had reduced the arrears early in the second half, but his strike was chalked off after a frankly surreal eight-minute VAR delay. And before full-time, a wild challenge from Eric Garcia earned him a straight red card to cap a truly awful evening for the Blaugrana. 

GOAL rates Barcelona’s players from the Metropolitano…