Atletico Madrid and Barcelona played out a breathtaking 4-4 draw in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final on Tuesday, setting the stage for an intense second leg at the Metropolitano Stadium on April 2. The thrilling encounter saw Atletico race into an early two-goal lead, only for Barcelona to mount a stunning comeback before a late equalizer left the tie evenly poised.
Early Atletico Blitz
Diego Simeone’s Atletico side made a blistering start, scoring twice within the first six minutes. Julian Alvarez struck in the opening minute, reacting quickest at the back post after Antoine Griezmann’s cross was flicked on. Just minutes later, Griezmann doubled the lead, capitalizing on a misplaced pass from Jules Kounde. The French forward showed great composure under pressure from Alejandro Balde, squeezing a shot past Barcelona’s Wojciech Szczesny.
Barcelona’s Comeback
Despite the early setback, Barcelona responded in emphatic fashion, controlling much of the first half. Ferran Torres squandered a golden opportunity to pull one back, his tame effort easily saved by Atletico goalkeeper Juan Musso. However, the Catalan side struck twice in two minutes to level the score. Kounde made amends for his earlier mistake by setting up Pedri Gonzalez, who finished with precision. Shortly after, teenage defender Pau Cubarsi nodded home from a well-delivered corner to make it 2-2.
Barcelona continued to dominate, and Torres missed another golden chance to give his side the lead, rounding Musso but failing to convert under pressure from Clement Lenglet, who is currently on loan at Atletico from Barcelona.
Second Half Drama
At the start of the second half, Szczesny denied Griezmann with a sharp save, while Alexander Sorloth had a goal disallowed for offside as Atletico sought to regain control. However, it was Barcelona who struck next, with teenage sensation Lamine Yamal producing a dazzling run down the right flank. His perfect cut-back found substitute Robert Lewandowski, who tapped in to give Barcelona a 4-2 advantage.
Barcelona’s attacking play warranted their lead, but Atletico showed their trademark resilience. Marcos Llorente gave Simeone’s side a lifeline in the 84th minute with a well-taken goal from the edge of the box. Then, deep into stoppage time, Sorloth delivered a dramatic equalizer, finishing from Samuel Lino’s pass to salvage a draw.
Reactions
Barcelona midfielder Pedri expressed disappointment at allowing a two-goal lead to slip away.
“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.”
Atletico manager Diego Simeone hailed his team’s fighting spirit and credited his substitutes for making a crucial impact.
“We had an enormous competitive spirit,” said Simeone. “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.”
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick, who opted to start Torres in a false nine role instead of Lewandowski, was pleased with his team’s overall display despite the disappointing result.
“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.”
Looking Ahead
The dramatic draw leaves the tie finely balanced ahead of the second leg at the Metropolitano on April 2. Atletico will take confidence from their late comeback, while Barcelona will aim to address their defensive lapses. With both teams set to face each other twice more in quick succession—including a crucial La Liga clash and a Champions League last-16 encounter against Real Madrid for Atletico—football fans can expect more thrilling action in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid will take on Real Sociedad in the other semi-final first leg on Wednesday, adding further intrigue to this year’s Copa del Rey competition.