Atletico Madrid showcased an impressive first-half performance, dominating La Liga leaders Barcelona in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final.
The visitors faced an uphill battle when a potential goal by Pau Cubarsi was ruled offside after an eight-minute VAR review. This was the second consecutive year the teams met at this stage, with Barcelona winning last season.
This time, Atletico exacted revenge by scoring four times before halftime. The rout began with an error from Eric Garcia, whose backpass slipped under goalkeeper Joan Garcia for an own goal.
Antoine Griezmann soon doubled the lead with a fine strike against his former club. Atletico continued to press, with Nigerian International Ademola Lookman adding a third goal, following a superb setup from Julian Alvarez. Just before the break, Alvarez thumped home a long-range effort, ending his goal drought.
In the second half, Barcelona thought they had scored when Cubarsi tapped in from a Robert Lewandowski assist, but VAR disallowed it for offside after a lengthy review.
Things only worsened for Barcelona, as Garcia received a red card for a foul on Alex Baena late in the game. With this defeat, Barcelona faces a challenging task in the return leg on 3 March.
