Barcelona
and Atletico Play out Epic Copa del Rey First Leg

Barcelona,
26 Feb (ONA) — Barcelona and Atletico Madrid both rallied from two goals down
in a frantic 4-4 draw in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals.

Atletico
scored twice in the first six minutes before conceding four unanswered goals
and coming back to even the match with goals in the final 10 minutes, including
the equalizer by substitute Alexander Sorloth three minutes into stoppage time,
the Spanish MARCA newspaper reported.

Barcelona
saw Atletico jump to an early lead with goals by Julián Álvarez in the first
minute and Antoine Griezmann in the sixth, but the hosts tied the game by the
21st minute, thanks to goals two minutes apart by Pedri and Pau Cubarsí. The
Catalan club took a 3-2 lead into halftime after Iñigo Martínez scored in the
41st. Robert Lewandowski increased the lead in the 74th.

Atletico
pulled closer with Marcos Llorente in the 84th and Sorloth got the equalizer
from close range.

The
second leg will be played at Atletico’s Metropolitano Stadium in April 2025.

The
winner will play either Real Madrid or Real Sociedad, which will play their
first-leg match tonight in Basque Country.

Barcelona
last won the competition in 2021 and Atletico in 2013.

Atletico
had beaten Barcelona 2-1 in Barcelona in the Spanish league when the teams last
met in December.

Until
the semifinal stage, the Copa’s knockout rounds were played in
single-elimination games.

—
Ends/Khalid