Barcelona drew against Atletico Madrid at home in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg. The game ended in a dramatic 4-4 draw, despite Barcelona being the dominant side again Atletico made sure to give a tough fight.
First-Half Comeback
Atletico’s Shocks Early
The game started with an Atletico kick-off, where Atletico won the corner in their first few touches into the match. Atletico took a short corner and Alvarez scored in 51 seconds of the game, not usually what Atletico does but this exposed Barcelona’s ability to defend a basic attack.
The second goal came in just a blink of an eye in the 6th minute, Barcelona was caught off by poor man-to-man marking where Greizmann was played a b beautiful ball by Alvarez and the Frenchmen finished the attack in style.
Barcelona were careless and poor defensively at the start which cost them two easy goals. Then Barcelona made a good response by keeping the possession and pushing Atletico at the back, where they played a low block behind planning to finish the half.
Great Response from Barcelona
Pedri scored a beautiful teamwork goal in the 19th minute of the game, Lamine played an outer ball at the right flank to Kounde who played a beautiful cut-in pass in the box and was well finished by Pedri.
Barcelona didn’t hold back. They kept attacking and won a corner in the 21st minute of the game. Cubarsi scored his first-ever Barcelona goal from Raphinha’s corner, making the score level. Later, in the 31st minute, Inigo scored a similar goal from the corner, making it 3-2.
After conceding the two goals, Barcelona’s response was well. As we all are familiar Atletico’s low-block tactic is second to none and they have the best defensive record in La Liga this season, despite that Barcelona still managed to score three with beautiful passing and fluid play.
Despite a great response, Ferran lacked finishing and missed 2 clear opportunities.
Second Half Blunders
Barcelona make it 4-2
The second half started off a bit shaky from Barcelona as it seemed Atletico were back and started to gain a little momentum on their attack.
Barcelona still was good with possession and tried to play more penetrative football with risky passes in the box. In the 74th minute of the game, Lamine Yamal played a beautiful assist to Lewandowski to make the score 4-2.
Unnecessary Changes
Barcelona and Flick seemed relaxed and Flick made some unnecessary changes. When Barcelona got a 2-goal lead, Pedri and De Jong were in complete control of the mid-field and could’ve easily killed the game-keeping possession.
Flick substituted Pedri with Fermin looking to increase their lead, these substitutions made Barcelona submissive and on the receiving end.
Atletico make it 4-4
Atletico’s substitutes made life difficult for Barcelona, Correa, Molina, and Sorloth played great on the counter-attack to hurt Barcelona.
Llorente made it 4-3 in the 85th minute of the game after a great cut-in assist from Correa. Later Sorloth scored from an easy tap-in after Kounde’s slip on the left-flank.