"Looking so clueless nowadays when he plays", "Brings nothing to the team" - Fans slam Barcelona star after 4-4 Atletico Madrid draw

Barcelona fans online were unimpressed with La Masia graduate Gavi for his performance during the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinal against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday (February 25). The midfielder came on as a substitute but failed to meet fans' expectations in an eight-goal thriller at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.

Barcelona and Atletico Madrid entered the match amid a fiercely contested title race, occupying the first and third positions on the league table, respectively. While Hansi Flick’s men looked like the top dogs, Diego Simeone’s men raced out of the blocks and took the lead in the first minute. Antoine Griezmann‘s cross into Barcelona’s box was headed down by Clement Lenglet, which Julian Alvarez tucked home.

Five minutes later, the visitors were in dreamland as they doubled their lead by exploiting Barca’s high line. Alvarez was the architect this time as he capitalized on a miscalculated pass by Jules Kounde. The Argentine then played a sublime through ball for Griezmann to run into, as the latter’s subsequent effort proved too hot for Wojciech Szczesny to handle.

However, Barcelona were not cowed by Alteti’s early lead, as they rallied in response. They were back on level terms in the 21st minute. Pedri halved the deficit in the 19th minute while Pau Cubarsi restored parity two minutes later. Inigo Martinez turned the game four minutes before the break, as he headed home a Raphinha corner kick.

By the 74th minute, Barcelona had already secured a two-goal lead (4-2). Lamine Yamal marauded down the right wing and set up Robert Lewandowski to tap into an empty net. Just when it seemed like Barcelona would secure the victory, Marcos Llorente set up a frantic end to the game as he fired home Angel Correa’s cutback pass in the 84th minute.

Alexander Sorlorth once again came up clutch for Atletico Madrid, scoring the equalizer (90+3'). The match ended in a 4-4 draw.

However, Barcelona fans weren’t happy with the result and some of them singled out Gavi after the match. The 20-year-old midfielder played only 22 minutes after replacing Dani Olmo in the 68th minute. Gavi lost possession three times, was fouled once, and received a rating of 6.5, as per Sofascore.

Fans took to social media to berate him for his performance.

An X user wrote:

''We throwed the game away at the end. Gavi is looking so clueless nowadays when he plays. He’s so lost.''

Another tweeted:

''Gavi brings nothing to this team. I will say it again.''

''Gavi is the most overrated player i’ve ever seen. what does he even do???'' @ArinolaDolapo4 wrote.

''Gavi is not good enough. The moment he brought him on and took pedri off we lost the game. The midfield was non-existent'' @Firebreqth added.

''Gavi for olmo is what lost us this match'' @f1koka asserted.

''Gavi gave us nothing here honestly. Those subs killed us'' @MavusoT chimed in.

''Really disappointed'' – Barcelona boss Hansi Flick says he’s ‘angry’ after 4-4 draw with Atletico Madrid

Hansi Flick spoke about his side’s performance after their 4-4 draw with Atletico Madrid in the Copa del on Tuesday. The German gaffer praised his players but added that he was "angry" that they gave away a two-goal lead.

Flick said in the post-match press conference (via ESPN):

"Some time after the end of the match, it's still not easy to find the right words. At the end, we are really disappointed about the result, but the game we played today was really great."

"I focus more on this, to keep the confidence very high, but also we have to speak about the goals, because it could not be. It was maybe too easy [for Atlético]. The fourth goal I am really angry about that. There is no pressure on the ball. This is not how we do it," he added.