Barcelona were left reeling after a crushing 4-0 defeat to Atlético Madrid in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final — and Hansi Flick did not hide from the reality of the performance.
The holders now face a monumental task in the return leg after being thoroughly outplayed on Thursday night.
First-Half Lesson
An early own goal from Eric García set the tone for a nightmare evening, and things only worsened from there. García later saw red in the second half, though by that stage the damage had long been done.
Atlético’s ruthless display saw Antoine Griezmann, Ademola Lookman and Julián Álvarez all find the net, leaving Barcelona staring at elimination.
Flick was brutally honest in his post-match assessment.
“We didn’t play very well in the first half as a team. We had too much distance between everyone. We didn’t press how we wanted.
In the first 45 minutes or more, we got a lesson. Sometimes it’s good in the right moment. Maybe today was the right moment.”
Historic Low
The defeat marked just the second time in 21 years that Barcelona have conceded four goals in the first half of a match. The only other instance came in their infamous 8-2 Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich in 2020.
To compound matters, García became the first Barcelona player since at least 2004-05 to score an own goal and be sent off in the same match.
Flick Still Believes
Despite the humiliation, Flick insisted he remains proud of his squad, particularly given their injury struggles throughout the campaign.
“Today was a heavy loss but I am proud of my team.
We will come back. We need to start from the beginning. When you see Atlético players, they had more will, more hunger. And this is what I want from the first minute.
We have the second leg. We will fight for that. If we are able to win each half 2-0, this is our goal.”
Barcelona will now need nothing short of a miracle at Camp Nou to overturn the deficit — but Flick is demanding intensity, hunger and belief from the very first whistle.