With Marcus Rashford, Rafinha and Pedri all missing from Barcelona’s squad, Hansi Flick lacks quality options ahead of his start at the Metropolitan Stadium.
Not to mention Rojiblancos have won nine of their past 12 games on Thursday.
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However, Flick and his team may take heart from the fact that Atletico have won just four of 10 games in all competitions in 2026 (D3, L3).
In addition, Barcelona’s recent excellent performance has seen them win 8 of their last 9 away games and 11 of their last 12 Copa del Rey away games, a solid record in the first leg.
Winning eight of the last 10 meetings with Diego Simeone’s side and not losing in the last eight Copa del Rey games (6 wins, 2 draws) also bodes well for the Catalans.
Let’s take a look at three topics in the game…
The complete lack of intensity is inexcusable
Obviously, not every game is going to go your way. Even the best teams in history don’t win all the time.
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However, in this case, it is at least to be expected that players will risk their lives for the cause.
Put in every last drop of effort so that even if the game ends up still being lost, the team can hold their head high and admit they were beaten by a better team.
There was only one team in the first half at MetLife Stadium.
Atletico were first on every ball, sharper on most second balls, attacking and passing, and fierce on every challenge.
Balder had a nightmare
Let’s start by admitting that Barcelona as a whole is rubbish. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s dig a little deeper into the details.
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Of course, Alejandro Balde had his good moments at the club, but his poor play certainly outweighed those.
For an overlapping full-back, he is unable to cross, and because he spends so much time and energy attacking, he is rarely able to get back into his original position when needed.
He can get away with it a lot of the time, but he always Exposed to the better side. It was embarrassing on a Thursday night.
Every time Atletico got behind Barca’s back four, it was Balde’s side. He even gave Giuliano Simeone a two-yard gain on one particular move – but was still dispossessed of the ball.
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In addition to playing for Balde in the backcourt, do Barcelona really have no one else besides Gerard Martin who can occupy this position?
RFEF is a joke
Between the Spanish Football Federation and La Liga, Spanish football needs to take a hard look at itself if it wants to become a top five league in Europe.
There was an eight-minute delay from VAR before a patently ridiculous offside decision was issued, two red card decisions (both times by Simeone against Balde) were sealed by the match officials – both on and off the pitch, and many other decisions that simply made no sense.
In a cup semi-final, both teams obviously have to be perfect, but so do the people in charge of the game.
They are absolutely pathetic in almost every sense of the word.