Atletico Madrid stun Barcelona in thrilling 4-4 Copa del Rey semi-final

Alexander Sorloth’s late equalizer capped off a dramatic encounter as Atletico Madrid and Barcelona played out an electrifying 4-4 draw in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final on Tuesday.  

The match began at a breathtaking pace, with former Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez stunning the hosts just 50 seconds in. Atletico doubled their lead shortly after, courtesy of ex-Barcelona star Antoine Griezmann.

Despite the early setback, Barcelona responded in style. Pedri pulled one back before Pau Cubarsi’s header brought them level within 19 minutes.

Inigo Martinez then put the Catalans ahead with another first-half header, and Robert Lewandowski’s second-half strike seemed to have secured the win for Hansi Flick’s side.

Marcos Llorente got a third for Diego Simeone’s side late on, before substitute Sorloth clinched a dramatic draw in the third minute of added time to leave the tie in the balance.

Pitting La Liga’s top scorers against the league’s most-resilient defence was always going to produce a tense game, but this one lived up to the hype – and then some.

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.