 "Copa del Rey: Barcelona, Atletico Madrid play out thrilling 4-4 draw in first leg of semi-final")
Atletico Madrid conceded a two-goal lead then fought back from two down in a wild 4-4 draw with Barcelona in a Copa del Rey semi-final first leg thriller 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 to leave the tie perfectly poised ahead of the second leg at the Metropolitano stadium on April 2.
“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.”
Simeone hailed his team’s grit, with his substitutes playing a key role as they have done so many times this season.
“We had an enormous competitive spirit,” said the Atletico coach.
“The changes freshened up the team, it wasn’t an easy game to play, and I love the spirit the lads showed…
“The team began to feel more comfortable as the minutes passed.”
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 side’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 being pressured by 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 but his shot was weak and Atletico goalkeeper Juan Musso saved easily.
The La Liga leaders hit two goals in two minutes to pull back 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.
‘Too easy’
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,” Atletico’s Alvarez summed up the game.
Barcelona coach Flick was pleased with his team’s display but not the final score.
“We are really disappointed about the result but the game we played today was really great, I focus more on this,” Flick told reporters.
“We have to speak about the goals, it was maybe too easy (for Atletico), but we played against a fantastic team… we dominated for 75 to 80 minutes.”
On Wednesday Real Madrid visit Real Sociedad in the other semi-final first leg.
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