Nine-man Barcelona reaches Copa del Rey final in thriller against 10-man Atletico

Like in so many Barcelona games lately, the result wasn’t one that the club that reinvented the meaning of aesthetic soccer in recent years will be terribly proud of. But it’s one that counts nonetheless. And the 1-1 home tie with Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, in which both teams had a goal disallowed and at least one player sent off, while Atleti missed a penalty, was a success only inasmuch as Barca reached its fourth straight Copa del Rey final in a bid to lift it a third consecutive time on May 27.

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Barcelona lost both Sergi Roberto and Luis Suarez to red cards in the course of the game, while Atletico’s Yannick Ferreira Carrasco was also sent off with a second yellow card. And Kevin Gameiro both won and missed a penalty for the visitors. Yet Suarez’s goal would be enough to offset Gameiro’s for the Mattressmakers and see Barca through to the final on the strength of the 3-2 aggregate score.

Atletico’s late bid for an equalizer, which would have sent the game to extra time, fell just short after the missed spot kick and an Antoine Griezmann goal that should have stood but was called offside.

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In the beginning of this hectic game, Atleti disturbed the hosts with its incessant high pressure, a formula that several teams have found success with against the Catalan juggernauts of late. Just six minutes in, Ferreira Carrasco had an inviting opening after he made a long run from the left and scythed inside, but he smashed his finish right at goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen.

Atletico continued to create chances. Koke curled in a free kick that Cillessen saved in a scramble off the line, but the play was wrongly annulled for offside anyway. A Koke blast and a Diego Godin header then forced further Cillessen saves while Filipe Luis hit the ball into the side netting and Griezmann almost got a shot off from a scrumptious spot.

Denis Suarez tussled with Fernando Torres in the box, who cried for a penalty, but was rightly denied one.

It took a while for Barca to work through its daze from this opening barrage of punches. But it would land the first haymaker. In the 43rd minute, Andre Gomes, who otherwise looked suspect again in the holding midfielder role, played a tight ball into Luis Suarez, who laid off for Lionel Messi. The ball virtuoso slalomed through a forest of defenders and while his shot was parried by Miguel Angel Moya, Suarez had a simple score on the rebound.

Before the hour, Atletico gained a numerical advantage. as Sergi Roberto was sent off with a second yellow for clattering into Filipe Luis and Diego Simeone’s men seemed to have their opening to get back into the tie.

Griezmann’s 59th-minute goal would have done exactly that, except that it was wrongly disallowed for offside.

Atletico didn’t help its own cause, though, when Ferreira Carrasco was expelled with a second yellow on a clumsy striker’s challenge.

But the visitors were spared the knockout punch. Messi zinged a laser beam free kick off the underside of the bar, close to 30 yards away from him.

Yet another Atletico opportunity was wasted when Gameiro earned a melted butter-soft penalty on Gerard Pique’s apparent non-challenge. The Frenchman hammered the kick well over the bar.

At length, Atletico got its goal when Griezmann was played through the line and selflessly squared a no-look ball across to Gameiro for a simple tap-in.

It would be Barcelona’s turn to have a goal disallowed next. Messi shimmied through the line and fed Luis Suarez, but he strayed offside before scoring with a quick finish. This time around, the call was right, and Suarez should have known and done better.

And not long thereafter, the Uruguayan was sent off for sticking an elbow in Koke’s neck – possibly on purpose – for a straight red card. It might have been a yellow instead, assuming, for argument’s sake, that it wasn’t intentional. But that would have been his second and also resulted in his expulsion from the game.

Atletico pressed hard for the equalizer. But Griezmann misread the biggest opportunity and deflected it behind. The comeback bid would come up short, as the underdogs had simply frittered away too many chances. You tend only to get so many against Barca. Atleti got more than most and underutilized almost all of them.

If Barcelona’s name is etched into the trophy again in late May, the ugly affairs such as these that got the Catalans there will have been forgotten. Such is the nature of titles won. But if they lose, the writing will have been scribbled on the wall in these semifinals.

Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.