Atletico Madrid put on a brilliant display to beat Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final on Thursday. Nigerian forward Ademola Lookman played a key role, scoring once and providing one assist.
The scoring started early in the seventh minute when Barcelona goalkeeper Joan Garcia made a mistake that handed Atletico the lead with an own goal. Antoine Griezmann doubled the advantage in the 14th minute. In the 33rd minute, Julian Alvarez set up Lookman for Atletico’s third goal, and the Nigerian forward returned the favour just before half-time by assisting Alvarez to make it 4-0.
The win gave Atletico a huge advantage ahead of the second leg, with Lookman shining in what could be a breakthrough night for the Nigerian attacker. His pace, skill, and understanding with Griezmann proved too much for a usually strong Barcelona defence.
Atletico will now look to maintain this lead when the two sides meet again, while Barcelona will need a strong response to stay in the tie.
