Atlético Madrid vs Barcelona, Copa del Rey: Team News, Match Preview

Madrid — When Barcelona step beneath the Wanda Metropolitano floodlights on Thursday night, they will do so knowing that the 2025-26 Copa del Rey may be decided over the next 180 minutes. The semi-final first leg (21:00 CET) pits the competition’s two heaviest hitters against one another, with the victors likely to enter the final as overwhelming favourites against either Athletic Bilbao or Real Sociedad.

Barça arrive in the capital buoyed by a weekend victory over Mallorca that kept them atop La Liga, yet the visitors have been forced to patch a midfield already missing Gavi, Pedri and Raphinha. January recruit Marcus Rashford and defender Andreas Christensen have also been ruled out, leaving coach Hansi Flick—who has not been named in the source material—reliant on a youthful spine anchored by Frenkie de Jong and 17-year-old centre-half Pau Cubarsí.

Atlético, meanwhile, must cope without American destroyer Johnny Cardoso and emerging Spanish pivot Pablo Barrios, both sidelined, while Nico González faces a late fitness test. The absences could prove critical: Barrios’ ball-winning and distribution have underpinned Atleti’s best performances this term, including last week’s 4-0 demolition of Real Betis in Seville. Without him, captain Koke will be asked to shield a back four that concedes territory when the side presses high.

Diego Simeone’s men have oscillated between exhilarating and exasperating all season. Three days after routing Betis in the cup, they succumbed to the same opponents in league play, highlighting a Jekyll-and-Hyde narrative that makes forecasting Thursday’s outcome perilous. What is certain is Atleti’s need to seize the initiative on home soil; a cagey, counter-attacking approach would cede momentum ahead of the return leg at Camp Nou, where Barça routed Atlético 3-1 earlier this campaign.

January signing Ademola Lookman has offered an immediate jolt on the left flank, his direct running complementing Antoine Griezmann’s invention and compensating for Julián Alvarez’s barren patch. Lookman’s duel against teenage prodigy Lamine Yamal—flanked by Fermín López and Dani Olmo in Barça’s 4-2-3-1—promises fireworks.

The midfield battle looks lopsided on paper. A De Jong–Marc Bernal pivot offers Barcelona control, whereas Atleti’s improvised quartet could feature Giuliano Simeone tucking inside from the right to bolster numbers. Expect Simeone to instruct his full-backs, Llorente and Ruggeri, to push aggressively, gambling that centre-backs Pubill and Hancko can contain Ferran Torres’ diagonal runs.

With both sides obliged to attack, a high-scoring affair looms. A 2-2 draw would leave the tie deliciously poised, rewarding the travelling Catalans for away goals yet offering Atleti hope that a single moment of magic from Griezmann or Lookman can flip the script in Barcelona next month.

Whatever the result, the Copa del Rey’s de facto final begins tonight—and the stakes could scarcely be higher.