First Barcelona Baptism for Lookman in Copa del Rey S’final Tonight

Duro Ikhazuagbe

Tonight’s Copa del Rey semifinal first leg clash between Atlético Madrid and Barcelona will be the real first test for Nigerian international, Ademola Lookman, since his switch from Atalanta in the Italian Serie A to Spain.

Expectedly, after a fairytale run with the Super Eagles at AFCON 2025 in Morocco, Lookman, hit ground running in Spain. He had a dream debut landing in Spain, getting on the scorer’s sheet and providing an assist as Atlético hammered Real Betis 5-0 in that Copa del Rey quarterfinal clash away.

But Betis have since exerted their pound of flesh in their La Liga fixture last Sunday, snatching all three points from Atlético in their fortress in Estadio Metropolitano. Lookman after that dream debut in the Copa del Rey, has been humble and given the Spanish treatment in the Liga.

And so, his return to play mighty Barcelona in the Copa del Rey semifinal tonight, will expectedly be different kind of baptism from one of the ‘Big Two’ of Spanish club football.

The match which will kick off at 9:00 p.m. local time, will be the first of two legs against the Catalan club.

Atlético once again find themselves in the semifinals of the Copa del Rey and facing Barcelona in their pursuit of silverware.

In last year’s edition of the King’s Cup, the tie between the two rivals saw a thrilling 4-4 draw in Barcelona, followed by a disappointing 0-1 defeat in Madrid. The fixture order is flipped this time, with the first leg in Madrid and the second at the Camp Nou.

It’s tough to find a more in-form squad than Barcelona in Europe right now. They have won 17 of their last 18 matches in all competitions and have already secured a spot in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Exactly one month ago, they captured the Spanish Super Cup with a dominant victory over Athletic Club and a Clásico win over Real Madrid in the final.

The bad news for Barça is that they will most likely be without star player Raphinha. He was a particularly difficult matchup for Atlético’s defence last time out and will undoubtedly be missed if truly unable to start.

Pedri and Gavi also remain unavailable for Hansi Flick, while Frenkie de Jong looks primed to return from the groin injury he suffered a few weeks ago. A new name to the injury sheet for Barcelona is the Englishman Marcus Rashford, who has been ruled out of this fixture with a knee injury.

For Diego Simeone’s side, the most notable name on the injury sheet is Pablo Barrios, who is in the midst of a four-week absence due to a thigh injurypicked up against Betis last Thursday.

According to Marca, the oft-injured Johnny Cardoso is pushing to be available for Simeone today, but as of Wednesday morning he was still not fully training with the rest of the team. Given the state of Atlético’s midfield and Koke’s recent surge in minutes, this would be a welcome gift for the Colchoneros, but it appears as Simeone is going to have to once again rely on his long-time captain. Nico González also looks primed for a return to the team sheet after suffering a lower back strain last week.

RESULTS

*Premier League

Aston Villa 1-0 Brighton

Cry’Palace 2-3 Burnley

Man City 3-0 Fulham

Nottingham 0-0 Wolves

Sunderland 0-1 Liverpool

(Today)

Brentford v Arsenal

*Copa del Rey

Bilbao 0-1 Sociedad

(Today)