Barcelona went into their Copa del Rey semi-final first leg with Atletico Madrid as favourites, but the Catalan side found themselves on the end of a hiding. Four goals down at the break, the Blaugrana could do nothing to rescue their situation in the second half, with Eric Garcia sent off late on. That was to the delight of the Metropolitano, and Madrid in general it seems.

Before the match, Barcelona manager Hansi Flick was asked about a supposedly ‘easy’ run to the Copa del Rey semi-final, having faced Guadalajara, Racing Santander and Albacete en route. ‘Ask Real Madrid’, he responded, who were knocked out by the latter of course.

On Friday, Real Madrid manager Alvaro Arbeloa was asked for his thoughts on the match, and said with a straight face ‘Ask Flick’s Barcelona’.

Vinicius reacts to Barcelona defeat

If Arbeloa was doing his best to hide any content at Barcelona’s loss, Vinicius Junior had no motive to, and showed little restraint. The Brazilian star was at an event with streamer Ibai Llanos, a fellow Real Madrid fan. MD say that the images of Vinicius leaning in to listen to Llanos were in fact him being told about the Barcelona score, at which point Vinicius begins dancing with a look of shock and then delight on his face.

If there was any doubt that Alvaro Arbeloa enjoyed Barcelona's defeat last night, Vinicius certainly did.

— Football España (@footballespana_) February 13, 2026

Vinicius to return to action on Saturday night

Vinicius is set to return to action on Saturday night, as Real Madrid take on Real Sociedad at the Bernabeu. He missed their 2-0 win over Valencia due to suspension, but before that he had ended a goal drought in La Liga against Rayo Vallecano with a sumptuous strike. That run dated back nearly four months to the start of October, and Vinicius will be hoping that his goalscoring touch is back for good.