BARCELONA: Atletico Madrid let a two-goal lead slip before battling back to secure a dramatic 4-4 draw against Barcelona in a dramatic and action-packed Copa del Rey semi-final first leg on Tuesday.
After Diego Simeone’s side scored twice in the opening six minutes through Julian Alvarez and Antoine Griezmann, Barca raced through the gears in a high-octane performance.
The superb Pedri Gonzalez pulled one back, with Pau Cubarsi, Inigo Martinez, and Robert Lewandowski going on to score for the Catalan giants.
Marcos Llorente netted for Atletico before Alexander Sorloth struck in the 93rd minute, leaving the tie perfectly poised ahead of the second leg at the Metropolitano Stadium on 2 April.
“It’s a terrible result when you go 4-2 up… you have to be more careful, these are things we have to learn,” Pedri told Movistar.
“Today we started badly, but I’ll focus on how the team reacted.
“When we got in front, we have to be calmer… it will be a difficult second leg, but we will go there to try and win.”
Hansi Flick left Barca’s top goalscorer, Lewandowski, out of the starting line-up, with Ferran Torres taking his place in a false nine role.
Simeone picked a strong side despite his team’s extremely tricky fixture list, with this the first of three matches against Barca and a Champions League last-16 tie against Real Madrid on the horizon.
Atletico took the lead inside the first minute, with Alvarez pouncing at the back post after Griezmann’s cross was flicked on.
Atletico doubled their lead in the sixth minute when Jules Kounde gave the ball away, and Alvarez produced a stunning pass to release Griezmann.
The French forward was under pressure from Alejandro Balde but cleverly worked room for a shot, which Wojciech Szczesny got a hand to but could not keep out.
After Atletico’s opening salvo, Barcelona dominated the rest of the first half.
Ferran Torres should have levelled for Barcelona after Raphinha sent him through on goal, but his shot was weak, and Atletico goalkeeper Juan Musso saved easily.
The La Liga leaders struck twice in two minutes to pull level, with Kounde setting up Pedri for the first before Cubarsi nodded home from a corner.
Torres spurned another golden chance for Barca’s third, rounding Musso but misfiring under pressure from Clement Lenglet, on loan from the Catalans at Atletico.
‘90 minutes to go’
Szczesny saved well from Griezmann at the start of the second half, with Barca still largely in control.
Sorloth had a goal disallowed for offside as the visitors sought an equaliser, but instead, it was Barca who moved further ahead.
Teenage winger Lamine Yamal created it with a brilliant dribble, blazing past Reinildo Mandava and squaring for substitute Lewandowski to tap home.
Barcelona’s performance merited their lead, but Llorente’s 84th-minute strike from the edge of the box opened the door for Sorloth to net late on.
The Norwegian forward grabbed Atletico a last-gasp victory at Barca’s Olympic Stadium in December in La Liga, and he was in the right place at the right time once more to finish from Samuel Lino’s cut-back.
“It was crazy, a lot of goals, we knew it wouldn’t be easy against one of the best teams in Europe, they’ve proved that,” Alvarez told Movistar.
“We did our work too, though, and there’s 90 minutes to go… we have to continue on this path.”
On Wednesday, Real Madrid visit Real Sociedad in the other semi-final first leg.
