Argentinian coach holds up three fingers to teenage wonderkid in 4-0 demolition that all but seals Copa del Rey final spot
Diego Simeone has spent two decades finding ways to wind up opponents. Thursday night at the Metropolitano, he saved something special for an 18-year-old.
As Ademola Lookman swept home Atletico’s third goal against a shell-shocked Barcelona, Simeone turned toward Lamine Yamal and held up three fingers. Three-nil. Three goals. Three points of emphasis in a single, unsubtle gesture.
The teenager could only watch. So could the rest of Barcelona.
By half-time it was four. By full-time, it was a statement.
“This is for our people,” Simeone said afterward, his voice carrying the kind of satisfaction that comes from watching a plan come together perfectly. “I think our people need these parties. It’s clear, we know the rival we’re going to face. We can’t give up. There’s a long way to go until the return leg. But today we had a good joy for our people, who deserve it.”
They deserved it because nights like this don’t come along often. Atletico haven’t beaten Barcelona by four goals since 1989. They haven’t lifted a trophy since 2021. And against a team that had steamrolled most of La Liga this season, they played like a side possessed.
The scoring started with an Eric Garcia own goal — the kind of freakish bounce that tells you early on it might be your night. Antoine Griezmann, forever the ex-Barca man with something to prove, slid home the second. Lookman made it three. Julian Alvarez, finally ending an 11-game drought, hammered in the fourth.
Somewhere in among it all, Simeone found his moment with Yamal. Crafty, provocative, utterly in his element.
Across the technical area, Hansi Flick was experiencing something he hadn’t felt since coaching amateurs 21 years ago. His heaviest defeat as a professional. His worst night in Barcelona colours.
“We didn’t play well,” Flick admitted. “We have to go to the second game. It will be very difficult but we are going to fight it.”
He paused when asked about Pau Cubarsi’s disallowed goal, the one that took eight minutes to rule out after the semi-automatic offside technology failed. “I ask why it is offside,” he said. “I don’t know what they have decided. We have to accept it but I don’t agree.”
The reality is that Barcelona, even without Raphinha, Gavi, Pedri, Marcus Rashford and Andreas Christensen, simply didn’t turn up. And Atletico, even in a season of maddening inconsistency, simply wouldn’t let them breathe.
That inconsistency remains the great puzzle of Simeone’s team. They have thrashed Mallorca 3-0, Betis 5-0, and now Barcelona 4-0 in recent weeks. They have also lost to Betis, been beaten by Bodo/Glimt, and drawn with Galatasaray and Levante. They sit 13 points off Barcelona in La Liga and face Club Brugge in the Champions League play-offs.
But on nights like this, none of that matters.
Much of the damage was orchestrated by Lookman, the £30.3 million January signing from Atalanta who now has two goals and two assists in three games. His first home goal for the club sparked Simeone’s touchline sprint and the gesture that will dominate the morning headlines.
“Lookman is different from all the players we have,” Simeone said recently. “Especially in one-on-one situations, but he also has associative play. His profile allows us to use him in different positions, and his impact on the team was very good.”
Different, indeed. On a night when Barcelona were taught a lesson by a master of mischief and his new-look attack, different was exactly what Atletico needed.
The second leg awaits at Camp Nou on March 3. Barcelona, 32-time winners of this competition, will need a miracle.
Simeone, three fingers still lingering in the air, will be waiting.
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