Barcelona 3-0 Atletico Madrid (3-4 agg.): Bernal shines, Yamal dazzles, but Simeone's side hold on to reach the Copa del Rey final

Barcelona dominated, pressed, created, scored three, recorded 3.09 xG and controlled a reported 71% of the ball in front of a Camp Nou crowd that willed every touch into the net, yet  none of it mattered. Atletico Madrid, who had blown the tie open with a clinical 4-0 first-leg win at the Metropolitano a fortnight ago, sat deep on Tuesday night, defended with their lives in the final 20 minutes and walked out of Catalonia 4-3 on aggregate.

The cruelest part is that this was probably Barcelona’s best performance of the season in terms of intensity and organisation, and it came a result too late.

The damage was done in the first leg, when the Blaugrana were completely overrun, showed none of the fight they brought tonight and looked nothing like the side currently sitting four points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.

Marc Bernal was the story of the night. The 18-year-old, who has gradually become one of the most reliable midfielders in Spain this season, scored twice, covered every blade of grass and was desperately unlucky not to add a third when he snatched at a volley in the 89th minute with the tie already beyond reach. His first goal, a clean tap-in from Yamal’s low cross on 29 minutes, was the straightforward kind.

His second, a composed side-footed finish from Cancel’'s teasing ball to the back post on 72 minutes, was the sort of run and finish that midfielders who cost ten times what Bernal earns would be proud of. He gave Hansi  Flick everything he needed and then some.

Lamine Yamal, who came into the game averaging 13 goals and nine assists in La Liga alone this season, was unplayable for long stretches and the reason Camp Nou stayed alive as long as it did. The teenager glided past Lookman repeatedly in the first half as though the Nigerian wasn't even trying, delivered the assist for Bernal’s opener with a dribble and cross that lifted the stadium off its feet, and forced three separate saves from Juan Musso before the hour.

Diego Simeone had said before kick-off that his plan was to make Yamal feel as uncomfortable as possible defensively. For the first 60 minutes, that plan went nowhere. The kid went wherever he wanted.

Raphinha, Barcelona's captain and top scorer across all competitions this season, added the penalty on the stroke of half-time after Pubill caught Pedri in the box, sending Musso the wrong way with the nonchalance of someone who treats spot-kicks like a training exercise. The former Leeds man had also come close twice before that, with efforts that drifted narrowly wide when a goal looked certain. On a different night, he'd have had a hat-trick and been the reason Barcelona went through. Tonight, he was brilliant and it still wasn't enough.

Atletico, for their part, did exactly what Simeone sides do when the clock starts eating into a lead they have worked for. They absorbed, blocked, cleared and made themselves as awkward as possible once the game entered its final quarter, with the manager switching to a back five after the hour and withdrawing Lookman and Koke to shore up the shape.

Musso, who had been largely a spectator for long stretches, suddenly had everything to do when Cancelo found himself one-on-one in the 55th minute, and the Argentine goalkeeper's stop in that moment was the one that settled the tie. After that, there was no way through.

Griezmann, still running at 34, worked tirelessly to hold the line on the counter without ever really getting the ball, and Sorloth blazed one over with three minutes left that summed up how little Atleti needed by then.

Simeone's side will now face either Athletic Club or Real Sociedad in April's final, and with their La Liga title challenge 13 points adrift of Barcelona and realistically finished, the Copa del Rey is the one trophy left worth chasing this season.

Flick's men still lead the league and have Newcastle to come in the Champions League round of 16, so there's no shortage of reasons to move on quickly. But the question of why this Barcelona side took until the second leg to find the performance that might have changed everything will follow them for a while yet.

Here are the players ratings, as analysed by sportsbuzzfeed:

Barcelona ratings: Bernal 9, Yamal 8, Raphinha 8, Pedri 7, Cancelo 7, Cubarsi 7, Martin 7, Garcia 7, Fermin 6, Torres 6, Kounde 5 (off injured, 13 mins).

Atletico ratings: Musso 9, Pubill 7, Hancko 7, Cardoso 7, Llorente 7, Griezmann 6, Simeone G 6, Koke 6, Ruggeri 5, Lookman 5, Alvarez 5.