Who: Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid
What: Spanish Copa del Rey semifinal, second leg
Where: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain
When: Tuesday, March 3, at 9pm (20:00 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 17:30 GMT in advance of our live text commentary stream.
Barcelona suffered a humbling defeat in the first leg of this tie in Madrid and must now find a way to overturn a four-goal deficit at Camp Nou.
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Hansi Flick’s side can take some confidence in the fact that they sit at the top of La Liga and are scoring freely.
They head into the game off the back of a 4-1 demolition of third-placed Villarreal over the weekend, in which 18-year-old star Lamine Yamal grabbed his first career hat-trick.
However, Diego Simeone’s Atletico will back themselves to hold off Barca while also looking to exploit the hosts’ weaknesses on the counter.
Atletico arrive in Barcelona after a hard-fought 1-0 win over Real Oviedo at the weekend that saw them move up to third place in the league, albeit still a whopping 13 points behind Barca.
What happened in the first leg?
Atletico Madrid tore Barcelona apart with four first-half goals to secure a 4-0 victory, leaving the holders facing a gargantuan comeback task in the second leg.
Atletico took the lead in the sixth minute after Barcelona defender Eric Garcia rolled a routine pass back to goalkeeper Joan Garcia, who allowed the ball to slip under his boot and towards goal as he was scanning upfield. He tried to scramble back, but the ball crossed the line.
Eight minutes later, Ademola Lookman collected a long ball on the left and fed Julian Alvarez, who switched play to Nahuel Molina. The right back slipped a clever pass inside for Antoine Griezmann, who controlled smoothly and guided the ball into the bottom corner.
In the 33rd minute, Giuliano Simeone drove down the right and crossed low to Alvarez, who squared for an unmarked Lookman to fire into the bottom corner to make it 3-0.
Just before half-time, Lookman and Alvarez combined again, as the Nigerian forward slid a pass into the middle for the Argentinian to unleash a strike into the top corner from just inside the box.
Barcelona thought they had a goal in the 52nd minute when Pau Cubarsi turned in a rebound from a free kick, only for the effort to be ruled out for offside after a lengthy VAR review lasting nearly six minutes.
The Catalans ultimately failed to find the net and now need a near-miracle to reach the final in Seville in April.
Who is in the other semifinal?
The winners of this tie will face Real Sociedad or Athletic Bilbao in the final.
Real Sociedad hold a 1-0 advantage before their second leg in San Sebastian on Wednesday.
Flick praises ‘exceptional’ Yamal
At 18 years, 230 days old, Yamal is the youngest player to score his first hat-trick in La Liga, according to Opta.
His haul against Villarreal included a brilliant solo effort for his second goal, which saw him beat a player as he cut in from the right wing and curl a shot high into the far corner.
“He’s exceptional, and he’s here to make people happy,” Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said. “We need his goals to give him confidence. He’s very young, and he still has to improve, but everyone knows the quality he has.
“Opponents put two or three players on him, and that makes it difficult. Today I’m very happy for him. When he enjoys his football, it’s perfect for him and for us.”
Simeone thrilled with ‘fantastic’ Alvarez
Julian Alvarez struck in the 94th minute to snatch Atletico Madrid a 1-0 La Liga win over bottom side Real Oviedo on Saturday and help his team climb to third.
The Argentinian striker secured Diego Simeone’s side’s only second win in five league games with his first league goal in nearly four months.
Simeone singled Alvarez out for praise after the game.
“He’s a very important player, recognised worldwide, wanted by lots of teams, but we have him, and hopefully he can give us everything he’s got, because he’s a fantastic footballer,” he said.
“We went from less to more in our game. We played well in the second half and in the end came Julian’s goal, which was good for him and the team.”
Head-to-head
The two clubs have locked horns on 248 occasions, with Barca winning 113, Atletico winning 78, and 57 ending in draws.
Atletico’s last away win against Barcelona came in December 2024, when Alexander Sorloth scored a late goal to give the visitors a 2-1 victory.
Barcelona’s team news
Striker Robert Lewandowski is unavailable after suffering a fractured eye socket in the win over Villarreal, and Ferran Torres is expected to lead the line.
Eric Garcia will be suspended after being sent off in the first leg.
Last week, the club announced that midfielder Frenkie de Jong will be out for up to six weeks with a hamstring injury. Centre-back Andreas Christensen has also been ruled out for a lengthy period with a cruciate ligament tear.
Midfielder Gavi has returned to training after being out injured since August, but is not expected to feature as he works towards regaining full fitness.
However, while Raphinha, Pedri, and Marcus Rashford all missed the first leg, they will be available to face Atletico at Camp Nou.
Predicted lineup:
Joan Garcia (goalkeeper); Kounde, Cubarsi, Martin, Balde; Pedri, Olmo; Yamal, Lopez, Raphinha; Torres
Atletico Madrid’s team news
Johnny Cardoso injured his hamstring in the win over Real Oviedo at the weekend and will be unavailable.
Pablo Barrios is also still sidelined with a thigh injury and is not expected to return until the middle of March.
Predicted lineup:
Musso (goalkeeper); Ruggeri, Hancko, Pubill, Molina; Simeone, Koke, Llorente, Lookman; Alvarez, Sorloth
