MADRID (AP) — Barcelona gave Atletico Madrid an unexpected early present in their Copa del Rey match on Thursday when goalkeeper Joan García let the ball slip underneath his foot after a defender’s back pass.
Atletico leads Barcelona 4-0 at halftime in a disastrous first half for the visitors.
The rout started when García tried to control Eric Garcia's harmless-looking pass but the ball went underneath his foot outside the six-yard box.
García ran and dived to try to keep the ball from crossing the line, but didn't make it back in time. He swatted the ball back into play — and Atletico forward Ademola Lookman then sent it into the net — but the ball had earlier crossed the line.
The blunder came seven minutes into the first leg of the Copa semifinals at the Metropolitano stadium.
Antoine Griezmann gave Atletico a 2-0 lead by scoring in the 14th, Lookman added a third in the 33rd and Julian Alvarez got a fourth goal in first-half stoppage time.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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