Atletico Madrid stripped its host Barcelona of the Spanish football King's Cup, despite losing 0-3 in the semi-final second leg at Camp Nou, capitalizing on its 4-0 first-leg win.
The Catalan giant nearly pulled off another remontada thanks to a brace from Marc Bernal (29' and 72') and Brazilian Raphinha (45+5' from penalty), but couldn't complete the task.
Atletico reached the final for the first time since 2013, where it will face the winner between Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao, who meet in the second leg on Wednesday after Sociedad's 1-0 first-leg win.
Buoyed by a morale-boosting 4-1 league win over Villarreal—including a hat-trick from young star Amin Jamal, extending their lead to four points over rivals Real Madrid—the Blaugrana entered with a clear aim to turn the tables despite the tough mission.
Indeed, Hansi Flick's men pressed from the start, with Fermin Lopez nearly giving them a perfect start by unleashing a powerful shot from outside the box that clipped the crossbar (2').
The hosts took a blow with Frenchman Jules Kounde's calf injury in an off-ball incident, limping off replaced by Alex Balde (12').
Barcelona continued pressing with Raphinha's shot whistling past the post (14'), followed by Ferran Torres from a corner (17'). Torres then wasted another gilt-edged chance after Jamal broke down the flank and crossed off Hanco, teeing up the Spaniard inside the box—but he fluffed the close-range effort (22').
Atletico nearly exploited Barcelona's advance with a knockout blow, but Frenchman Antoine Griezmann squandered a sitter by weakly following up Matteo Ruggeri's cross (27').
Barcelona opened scoring from a short corner to Jamal, who delivered a pinpoint low cross for Bernal to tap in easily (29').
The Catalans won a penalty after Marc Pubill fouled Pedri, with Raphinha converting to end the first half having half-completed the mission (45+5').
Argentine keeper Jan Oblak denied Barcelona an early second-half boost, saving Raphinha's free kick (50') then Joao Cancelo's shot five minutes later (55').
Barcelona ignited the tie with a third goal via Cancelo's precise pass to the far post, where Bernal exploited the unmarked space to nutmeg the defense and calmly slot home with the inside of his foot into the bottom corner (72').
The hosts pressed hard late for a decisive fourth, but Gerard Martin's shot sailed over.
