Goalkeeper's gaffe as Barcelona concedes four goals in 1st half in big Copa loss to Atletico

MADRID (AP) — Barcelona couldn't recover from an early goalkeeping blunder in a disastrous first half as it lost 4-0 at Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals on Thursday.

Barcelona gave Atletico an unexpected early present when goalkeeper Joan García let the ball slip underneath his foot after defender Eric Garcia’s back pass, and Atletico went on to lead the Catalan club 4-0 at halftime.

As well as Eric Garcia's own-goal, Antoine Griezmann, Ademola Lookman and Julián Alvarez also scored for the hosts against Hansi Flick's shocked team.

To make it worse for defending champion Barcelona, Eric García was sent off in the 85th with a straight red card for stopping a breakaway.

“The first half was tough for us,” Eric García said. "Obviously, the first goal was an incredible misfortune. After that, they came out more focused, with more attitude. Against a rival like Atlético, it’s difficult with this advantage. We have one game left at home, with our fans and with players we’ll have back. If we’re focused from the start, we can turn this around.”

Barcelona, the Spanish league leader, had a goal by Pau Cubarsí disallowed early in the second half because of offside. The Spanish soccer federation later said the automatic technology to detect offsides didn't work properly and the video review crew had to draw the offside lines manually.

The result moves Atletico close to returning to the Copa final for the first time since it won the competition in 2012-13 for the 10th time.

“Our fans need these kinds of matches,” Atletico coach Diego Simeone said. “They’ve been supporting us for years, always there for us. They need important games. We had a very good first half, interpreting the game very well. We were very clinical and composed in the final stages of the game.”

Barcelona, the record 32-time Copa champion, won last year's final by beating Real Madrid.

In the other semifinal on Wednesday, Real Sociedad won 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao.

The second legs will be played in March. The final will be in Seville in April.

The rout started when Joan 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 Lookman then sent it into the net — but the ball had earlier crossed the line.

The blunder came seven minutes into the game at the Metropolitano stadium.

Griezmann gave Atletico a 2-0 lead by scoring from inside the area in the 14th, Lookman added a third in the 33rd in a well-constructed breakaway, and Alvarez got a fourth goal with a firm strike after another breakaway in first-half stoppage time.

With his team losing 3-0, Flick replaced midfielder Marc Casadó with striker Robert Lewandowski in the 37th.

Atletico had chances to add to the rout in the second half.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Barcelona's Dani Olmo, centre, reacts after Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann scored his side's second goal during the Copa del Rey semifinal first leg soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Copa del Rey semifinal first leg soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Barcelona's Eric Garcia reacts during the Copa del Rey semifinal first leg soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Barcelona's goalkeeper Joan Garcia, right, misses Atletico Madrid side's second goal by Antoine Griezmann, not in the picture, during the Copa del Rey semifinal first leg soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Thom Tillis from North Carolina suggested Thursday he could support a compromise that would allow the Senate Banking Committee to start hearings on Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump’s nominee to chair the Federal Reserve.

“What I heard being floated could be an off-ramp,” Tillis told reporters Thursday after a meeting of Senate Republicans. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has suggested that the banking committee, rather than the Justice Department, investigate cost overruns on the Fed’s $2.5 billion renovation of two Washington, D.C., office buildings, according to other senators at the meeting.

Tillis said last month that he would block any consideration of Warsh or any other Trump nominees to the Fed until the Justice Department drops a criminal investigation of Fed chair Jerome Powell over his testimony last summer about the renovation. Tillis on Thursday reiterated that view in comments on the Senate floor.

The investigation was revealed last month by Powell in an unusually blunt video statement, in which he said it was part of an effort by the Trump administration to force the Fed to lower its key interest rate. The Justice Department has subpoenaed Powell over comments he made about the building renovation during testimony before the banking committee last June.

“I will not allow any board member for the Federal Reserve to go through the banking committee, for chair or replacement of expired terms, until this matter is settled,” Tillis said.

“I have no problem with us having an investigation," he added, “like we should with so many other areas of government. I'd like to have oversight for the East Wing construction, to make sure that stays on target and doesn't go over budget.”

The Trump administration last year tore down the East Wing of the White House to add a large ballroom.

Tillis also said on the Senate floor that “vindictive prosecution is wrong, period," and added that the investigation threatened the Fed's longtime independence from day-to-day politics.

“If we're going to accuse someone of criminal behavior because of a project overrun in federal government, we better start budgeting a lot more for prisons,” Tillis said.

At the Senate Republicans’ private retreat this week they discussed Bessent’s idea of having the Senate Banking Committee take on the Powell investigation, said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La.

Kennedy described it as more of a “trial balloon” than a plan.

“All I heard was the Treasury Secretary thinking out loud, he raised the issue — he didn’t recommend it — he just raised it,” Kennedy said.

Tillis told reporters Thursday that he supports Trump's nomination of Warsh, who he said “is a great nominee.”

Tillis also said on the Senate floor that he had a list of seven GOP senators on the banking committee who did not think Powell committed a crime during his “two minutes of testimony” about the renovation project.

Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

FILE - Kevin Warsh speaks to the media about his report on transparency at the Bank of England, in London, Dec., 11, 2014. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, Pool, File)