BARCELONA: 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 semifinal 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.”
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 for Barcelona after Raphinha sent him through on goal but his shot was week 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.
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 equalizer, 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 semifinal first leg.
Atletico hold Barca in ‘crazy’ eight-goal Copa del Rey semi first leg
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Atletico hold Barca in ‘crazy’ eight-goal Copa del Rey semi first leg
- 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
Al-Ahli confirm Asian Champions League Elite progress with emphatic 5-0 win over Al-Shorta
- Al-Ahli are joined in the next round by Tractor, who claimed a 2-1 win over Qatar’s Al-Duhail through a late goal by Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh
- The first eight finishers in the league phases in east and west Asia advance to the round of 16, which will be played in March, with the quarterfinals, semifinals and final in Saudi Arabia in April
BAGHDAD: Defending champions Al-Ahli cruised to a 5-0 win over Al-Shorta in Baghdad on Monday as the Saudi Pro League side confirmed their progress to the knockout rounds of the Asian Champions League Elite alongside Iran’s Tractor FC.
Goals from Roger Ibanez, Ivan Toney, Galeno, Saleh Abu Al-Shamat and Ziyad Al-Johani sealed a comfortable win for Matthias Jaissle’s side, who moved on to 13 points from six matches to guarantee a top-eight finish in the 12-team standings.
“We did well today and we go home with three points,” Ibanez said. “That’s the important part.”
Ibanez gave Al-Ahli the lead when he converted Toney’s cut-back in the 30th minute and the former Brentford striker doubled the lead when he raced onto a pass through the middle by Galeno soon after the restart.
Galeno converted from a tight angle and Al-Shamat and Al-Johani netted in the closing stages as Al-Ahli bounced back from a surprise loss to Sharjah FC last month.
Al-Ahli are joined in the next round by Tractor, who claimed a 2-1 win over Qatar’s Al-Duhail through a late goal by Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh.
Benjamin Bourigeaud had given Al-Duhail a 35th-minute lead from the penalty spot but Shojae Khalilzadeh levelled the scores and Hosseinzadeh hit the winner two minutes into stoppage time.
Tractor moved on to 14 points and second in the table behind Al-Hilal who recorded a sixth consecutive win in the competition with a 1-0 victory over Sharjah in the UAE.
Simone Inzaghi’s side had already confirmed their place in the next phase and picked up another three points when Malcom struck with nine minutes remaining.
Al-Gharafa kept their qualification hopes alive through a 1-0 win over Al-Wahda from the UAE with Seydou Sano scoring an 87th-minute winner for the Qatari side.
Al-Gharafa climbed to six points and ninth in the table while Al-Wahda, who have qualified, dropped to fourth.
The first eight finishers in the league phases in east and west Asia advance to the round of 16, which will be played in March, with the quarteRfinals, semifinals and final in Saudi Arabia in April.
