Hansi Flick criticized the referee after Barca's humiliating defeat to Atletico.

Coach Hansi Flick admitted that Barca played poorly in their 0-4 defeat to Atletico, criticized the referee, and emphasized that this result could be a good lesson.

The first leg of the 2025/26 Copa del Rey semi-final was a surprise, with Atletico Madrid thrashing Barcelona 4-0 at their home stadium, Metropolitano.

Barca were in excellent form before arriving in Madrid. Meanwhile, Atletico were going through a long and difficult period.

Barca suffered a comprehensive defeat against Atletico. Photo: MD

Atletico's energetic, rock-fest style of football has helped them pull off a surprise and put them just one step away from the final.

“We didn’t play well as a team. When you don’t play as a team, you can’t be effective,” Hansi Flick said, referring to the match.

The German coach admitted that the Barca squad had problems: “The distance between the players was too great. There was a lack of pressing. Sometimes learning a lesson like this is a good thing.”

Then we played better. But we will fight. We have two 45-minute halves left to score two goals in each half.”

Despite the heavy defeat, Flick defended his players. “When I say I’m disappointed, it’s probably not entirely true. I’m proud of the players this season. We’ve suffered a lot of injuries. That’s part of football .”

Sometimes you lose. This match was a big blow, a heavy defeat. But we will come back.

We have to learn from this lesson. We didn't play well from the start. The team is young, but that's no excuse. We were better in the second half.”

Hansi Flick criticizes the referee. Photo: EFE

In the second half, Barca put the ball into Atletico's net, and fans were expecting a comeback. However, the referees disallowed Pau Cubarsi's goal after consulting VAR, with a delay of up to 7 minutes.

“What can I say?” Flick complained. “To me, it’s a mess. How long do we have to wait? Seven minutes? Just to find something. I don’t know.”

The former Bayern Munich coach continued to speak about the disallowed goal, after criticizing the referee for not giving Giuliano Simeone a second yellow card.

“To me, it was clearly not offside. I saw it differently. Then when they canceled the goal, they didn’t say anything to us either. There was no communication. I don’t understand why it was offside. It’s a shame. A disaster.”

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/barca-thua-tham-atletico-hansi-flick-chi-trich-trong-tai-2490371.html