Alexander Sorloth’s late equalizer capped a thrilling encounter as Atletico Madrid secured a dramatic 4-4 draw with Barcelona on Tuesday in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final.
The match was a rollercoaster of momentum, with former Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez stunning the hosts just 50 seconds in, followed by ex-Barcelona star Antoine Griezmann doubling Atletico’s lead shortly after.
Barcelona responded strongly, with Pedri’s finish and Pau Cubarsi’s header leveling the score by the 19th minute.
Inigo Martinez’s header and Robert Lewandowski’s second-half strike seemed to put Barcelona in control, but Atletico mounted a late fightback.
Marcos Llorente pulled one back for Diego Simeone’s side, and in the third minute of added time, substitute Sorloth’s dramatic goal ensured the match ended in a thrilling 4-4 draw, leaving the tie delicately poised.
With La Liga’s top scorers facing the league’s most resilient defense, the match certainly lived up to its billing.
After Alvarez converted at the back post and Griezmann finished past Wojciech Szczesny to make it 2-0 in just six minutes, Barcelona looked shell shocked.
Flick’s team regrouped and began to dominate, capitalising on their pressure through Pedri, who slotted Jules Kounde’s pullback beyond Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
Raphinha’s corner just two minutes later was headed in by Cubarsi to level things up, before Martinez completed the first-half turnaround.
Barcelona moved further ahead when their top-scorer Lewandowski came off the bench to score, finishing after Yamal’s dazzling run down the right.
The early lead Diego Simeone’s side held had been unravelled but Llorente finished past Szczesny to set up a tense finish in which the visitors were back on top.
Deep in injury time, Samuel Lino broke in behind and worked the ball across to Sorloth, who made no mistake to clinch a late leveller for the visitors and set up an intriguing second leg in April.
