Atletico Hold Barca In ‘Crazy’ Eight-Goal Copa Del Rey Semi First Leg
In a thrilling 4-4 draw with Barcelona in a Copa del Rey semi-final first leg thriller on Tuesday, Atletico Madrid took a two-goal lead before rallying from two down.
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 Catalan giants rallied with the excellent Pedri Gonzalez who added goals from Pau Cubarsi, Inigo Martinez, and Robert Lewandowski.
Before Alexander Sorloth scored in the 93rd minute to tie the game level before the second leg at the Metropolitano stadium on April 2, Marcos Llorente scored for Atletico.
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“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.
“We started badly today, but I’ll pay attention to the team’s reaction.
It will be a challenging second leg, but we will go there to try and win, the saying goes. “When we get in front, we must be calmer.
Simeone praised his team’s grit, which his substitutes have shown themselves to be very effective 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…
As the minutes went on, “the team started to feel more at ease.”
Ferran Torres replaced Lewandowski in a false nine role after Hansi Flick eliminated Barca’s top goalscorer from the starting lineup.
Despite having the first of three matches against Barca and a Champions League last 16 tie against Real Madrid on the horizon, Simeone chose a strong side.
After Griezmann’s cross was headed in, Alvarez snuck into the back post and took the lead right away.
In the sixth minute, Atletico doubled their lead thanks to Alvarez’s stunning release of Griezmann after Jules Kounde had given the ball away.
Alejandro Balde was pressing the French forward, but Wojciech Szczesny was able to sneak a shot that the forward could not avoid.
After Atletico’s opening salvo, Barcelona dominated the rest of the first half.
Juan Musso, the Atletico goalkeeper, should have easily saved the goal, but Ferran Torres’ shot was poor and he should have leveled.
The La Liga leaders scored two goals in two minutes to bring the score level, with Pedri scoring first before Cubarsi headed home from the corner.
Torres wasted another excellent opportunity for Barca’s third, rounding Musso but failing miserably under the pressure of Clement Lenglet, who is currently on loan from the Catalans at Atletico.
 , ‘Too easy ‘
At the start of the second half, Szczesny was successful in getting a good save from Griezmann, with Barca still firmly in charge.
As the visitors searched for an equalizer, Sorloth’s goal was turned down for offside, but Barca won.
Lamine Yamal, a teen winger, drew inspiration from a brilliant dribble that blared past Reinildo Mandava and fought for Lewandowski to tap home.
Barcelona had a good lead, but Llorente’s 84th-minute strike from the edge of the box gave Sorloth a chance to score late on.
The Norwegian international scored a last-gasp victory for Atletico in December’s La Liga match against Barcelona, and he was in the right place at the right moment to recover from Samuel Lino’s cut-back.
“It was crazy, a lot of goals”, Atletico’s Alvarez summed up the game.
Flick, the coach for Barcelona, was pleased with the performance of his team, but not the final score.
Flick told reporters, “We are really disappointed about the outcome, but the game we played today was really great. I concentrate more on this.”
“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”.
Real Sociedad will play Real Madrid in the other semifinal first leg on Wednesday.
Source: Channels TV
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