MADRID — Atletico Madrid just barely held on to its first-leg advantage against defending champion Barcelona in the Copa del Rey on Tuesday, advancing to its first Copa final in 13 years despite a 3-0 loss to the Catalan club.
Atletico advanced 4-3 on aggregate, thanks to its 4-0 win in the first leg last month in Madrid.
Diego Simeone’s team will play in the final for the first time since it won its 10th Copa trophy in the 2012-2013 season.
The second leg of the other semifinal between Real Sociedad and Basque Country rival Athletic Bilbao will be on Wednesday. Sociedad won 1-0 at Athletic last month.
The final will be in April in Seville.
Barcelona saw itself in a hole after being trounced in the first half of the first leg last month, conceding all four goals before the break at the Metropolitano stadium.
Barcelona came out strong at home on Tuesday, scoring with Marc Bernal in the 29th minute and Raphinha converting a penalty kick in first-half stoppage time. Bernal added the third in the 72nd, leaving the hosts one goal shy from evening the series.
“We knew it was going to be a tough match, it’s not easy to overcome a 4-0 defeat,” Raphinha said. “But I’m proud of the team. We gave everything we had from the start. We leave disappointed because we wanted to be in the final, and I think we deserved it after the game that we played.”
Barcelona kept pressing but Atletico’s stout defense held on.
