BARCELONA, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 22: Lamine Yamal of FC Barcelona looks on during the LaLiga EA Sports match between FC Barcelona and Levante UD at Spotify Camp Nou on February 22, 2026 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Pedro Salado/Getty Images) | Getty Images

FC Barcelona vs Atlético de Madrid

Competition/Round: 2025-26 Copa del Rey, Semi-Finals, 2nd Leg

First Leg Result: Atlético Madrid 4-0 Barcelona

Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Gavi, Robert Lewandowski, Andreas Christensen, Frenkie de Jong, Eric Garcia (out)

Atlético Outs & Doubts: Pablo Barrios (out)

Barcelona Form Guide: WLLWW

Atlético Form Guide: LDWWW

Date/Time: Tuesday, March 3, 2026, 9pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 8pm GMT (UK), 3pm ET, 12pm PT (USA), 1.30am IST (India, Wednesday)

Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Referee: Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea

VAR: Daniel Jesús Trujillo Suárez

How to watch on TV: Not Available (USA), Premier Sports 1 (UK), Sporty TV (Nigeria), TVE La 1 (Spain), others

How to watch online: ESPN+ (USA), Premier Sports Player (UK), FanCode (India), RTVE Play (Spain), others

Following a dominant win over Villarreal to maintain top spot in La Liga at the weekend, Barcelona return to action for the second leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final tie against Atlético Madrid at the Greatest Stadium on Earth on Tuesday night.

Barça come into this one looking to pull off a miracle after losing the first leg 4-0 in Madrid three weeks ago on a night where literally everything went wrong and the Blaugrana played so badly that losing by only four goals was actually a good thing.

They followed that up with a painful defeat away to Girona, but two convincing wins in a row have helped restore at least some of the good vibes ahead of the Champions League Round of 16 and a few gigantic league games that will have a big impact in the title race. The Cup is all but gone but they have a responsibility to try, and Hansi Flick and his troops are simply not built to give up.

Tuesday’s second leg is essentially a free hit. No Barça fan will hold it against them if the team is unable to turn such a huge deficit around, and Camp Nou will definitely appreciate a hard-fought elimination in which the Blaugrana attack and press relentlessly, create several huge chances and end up winning the game even if the margin isn’t enough.

But there is also the chance that Barça come out absolutely on fire and score twice in the first 10 minutes, send the stadium into a frenzy and cause Atlético to doubt themselves just enough to create a realistic chance for a comeback. That is their best bet to make the impossible happen, and Atlético are volatile and inconsistent enough to make that scenario at least plausible.

Diego Simeone’s team is no longer the bus-parking, time-wasting monster of a decade ago, but they absolutely can be that when necessary. They will be more than happy to stay solid at the back, frustrate Barça’s attack and look to score the one goal they’ll need on the counter to put the tie to bed, but it will be interesting to see if Simeone tries to catch Barça off guard and employ the same aggressive, attacking tactics that we saw in the first leg when everyone expects them to play very defensively.

Barça’s job is to try their hardest to put doubt in Atleti’s mind early on, but what they really need to do is play football in a way that makes the fans proud and continues to inspire confidence in the team regardless of the final result. Even if they can’t perform the miracle and miss out on the Final, they can still use this match as a building block for the near future. March is full of giant games, and a good win in this one, even if it means elimination, will be a good confidence boost for what’s ahead.

Let’s dance.

POSSIBLE LINEUPS

Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Joan; Kounde, Cubarsí, Martín, Balde; Bernal, Pedri; Yamal, Raphinha, Rashford; Ferran

Atlético (4-4-2): Musso; Llorente, Pubill, Hancko, Ruggeri; Simeone, Koke, Johnny, Lookman; Griezmann, Alvarez

PREDICTION

I expect Barça to come out as aggressive as we’ve ever seen them to try and suffocate Atleti early on, and the first 10-15 minutes will be absolutely crucial. I think we’ll create a lot of chances and find the net enough times to make this interesting, but Atleti are veterans of defending advantages in second legs: 3-2 Barça, and Atleti to the Final.

Barca Blaugranes

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