Hansi Flick experienced a crushing defeat as Barcelona fell 0-4 to Atletico Madrid, but the German manager insists this wasn’t his most painful loss.
Barca was thoroughly outplayed by Los Colchoneros in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal clash on Friday, February 13th. Playing at the Metropolitano Stadium, the Blaugrana conceded four goals in the first half alone.
An own goal by Eric Garcia opened the scoring for the home side in the sixth minute. Antoine Griezmann, Ademola Lookman, and Julian Alvarez then added their names to the scoresheet for Atletico. The night went from subpar to worse for Barcelona as a Pau Cubarsi goal was disallowed and they finished the game with ten men after Garcia received a red card.
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This result significantly diminishes Barcelona’s chances of reaching the Copa del Rey final, as they now face a daunting task of overcoming a five-goal deficit in the second leg next month.
According to statistics from MisterChip, the 0-4 defeat represents the largest margin of loss in Hansi Flick’s managerial career. Although, the coach believes Barcelona’s loss to Inter Milan in last season’s Champions League semifinal was a more difficult pill to swallow.
“Is this the worst night of my career? No,” Flick stated, as reported by Marca.
“My worst night was against Inter, that was the worst. Here we have a chance to come back. We know it won’t be effortless, but we will try,” said Hansi Flick.
Barcelona were eliminated by Inter Milan after a 6-7 aggregate defeat in the semifinals. Barca fell 3-4 in the second leg, conceding two goals in injury time despite leading 3-2 until the end of regulation.
(rin/rin)
