Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said his side were taught a lesson in a 4-0 Copa del Rey semi-final first leg defeat by Atletico Madrid.

MADRID: Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said his players did not work as a team and were taught a lesson in a 4-0 Copa del Rey semi-final first leg defeat by Atletico Madrid. The holders and La Liga leaders were crushed at Atletico’s Metropolitano stadium on Thursday.

Diego Simeone’s side ran riot with four goals before the break. “We didn’t play well in the first half as a team, we didn’t play like a team,” Flick told reporters. “The distance between everyone was too long and we didn’t press how we wanted.”

The German coach said his side were taught a lesson which could come in handy later in the campaign. “In the first 45 minutes we were handed a big lesson,” continued Flick. “Sometimes it’s good to get that in the right moment, maybe today is the right moment.”

Flick said the second half was much better and vowed his team would fight to win the return leg. Barcelona’s Pau Cubarsi had a goal controversially ruled out for offside in the second half.

The VAR review took a long time and it was not made clear who was offside. “It’s a mess, it’s a mess like that, and then they have to wait I don’t know how many minutes, was it seven minutes? Oh come on,” complained Flick.

“They found something in the seven minutes? Okay. For me, when I saw this situation it was clear no offside,” he added. Flick criticised the lack of communication over the decision, calling it “so bad here.”

 The Sun Malaysia