With Marcus Rashford, Raphinha and Pedri all missing for Barcelona, Hansi Flick was short of quality options before a ball was kicked at the Metropolitano.
Not to mention the Rojiblancos had won nine of their last 12 matches held on a Thursday.
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However, Flick and his squad may have taken heart in the fact that Atleti had only won four of the 10 games played in all competitions during 2026 (D3, L3).
Further, Barca’s great recent run had seen them win eight of their last nine away games, and 11 wins from their last 12 Copa del Rey away games was a solid record to bring into this first leg.
Eight wins in the last 10 head-to-heads with Diego Simeone’s side and no losses in their last eight Copa del Rey ties against them (W6, D2), also bode well for the Catalans.
Let’s take a look at three talking points from the game…
Complete lack of intensity is unforgivable
Not every game is going to go your way, that’s clear. Even the best teams in history didn’t win all the time.
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However, the very least that’s expected when that’s the case is that players put their bodies on the line for the cause.
That every last drop of effort is given so that if, ultimately, the game is still lost, the team can hold their heads high and concede that they were beaten by the better team.
In the first half at the Metropolitano, there was only one team in it.
Atleti were first to every ball, and to most second balls, were more incisive in their attacking and passing, and supremely intense in every challenge.
Balde has a nightmare
Let’s acknowledge first of all that collectively, Barcelona were rubbish. Now that’s out of the way, let’s drill down into the detail just a bit more.
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Alejandro Balde has had his good moments whilst at the club, certainly, but his bad games certainly outweigh those.
For an overlapping full-back, he can’t cross a ball, and because he spends so much time and energy in attack, he’s rarely able to be back in position when required.
Much of the time he gets away with it, but he’s always exposed against the better sides. On Thursday night, it was just embarrassing.
Every single time Atleti got in behind Barca’s back four, it was down Balde’s side. He even gave Giuliano Simeone a two-yard start in one particular move – and still got beaten to the ball.
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Has Barca really got no one else save for Gerard Martin that they can place in the position, if for no other reason than to give Balde a kick up the backside?
RFEF are a joke
Between the RFEF and La Liga, Spanish football needs to take a long, hard look at itself if it wants to be taken seriously as a top-five European league.
An eight-minute VAR delay to reach a frankly ludicrous offside decision, two red card decisions (Simeone on Balde both times) that were bottled by the match officials – both on and off pitch, and the awarding of many other decisions that simply didn’t make sense.
In a cup semi-final, both teams clearly have to be perfect, but so do those in charge of the game.
They were absolutely woeful in almost every sense.