At Lamine's ball, Sorloth didn't want to be left out: Barcelona and Atl. Madrid draw in an epic game with eight goals
The football spectacle is back on Montjuïc. After Atlético Madrid came from behind to beat Barcelona in injury time ( 1-2 ) in December, the legendary Olímpico was once again dressed in its finest for another meeting between the two rivals, this time in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey. This match was the start of a frenetic cycle for both teams, with the Catalans facing the Colchoneros (three times), Benfica (twice), Real Sociedad and Betis in the space of a month and a half. The Madrid team will face the Blaugranas (three times), Real Madrid (twice), Athletic Bilbao and Sevilla in the same period.
“It’s a new game. They are a great team, they have invested a lot, they have the best defence and incredible players in attack. It will be a tough game. A LaLiga game? The positive thing we have learned is that we can play very good football. We showed a very high level. We could have scored one or two more goals. When we have chances, we have to score. In a game, the important thing is to score more goals than the opponent. We want to win every game, it doesn’t matter if it’s at home or away. We can’t say that we were satisfied with the draw. We are playing at home, in front of a full stadium, and we need the fans to face a very difficult opponent”, said Hansi Flick on the day he turned 60.
PUB • CONTINUE READING BELOW
“It’s a very important match, which is divided into two legs. We have to take the game to where we think we can hurt them. We have a concrete idea and we’ll discuss it with the players before the game. We’re facing an opponent whose game I really like. They have great attacking strength and we’ll try to hurt them where we think it’s possible. When you face big teams, you know you have to be ready to resist. There will be good moments, we know what happened against Real Madrid, where there were moments when they were better than us… We know there will be different moments in the games and I hope there will be more good moments for us,” shared Diego Simeone.
Barcelona and Atlético Madrid battle it out in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg. ?????????⚔️
Who'll take the edge? ???? #BarcaAtleti pic.twitter.com/LLY1H2WKT8
— Pulse Sports Nigeria (@PulseSportsNG) February 25, 2025
Simeone wanted to stick to the same formula as in the December derby and kept the 4-4-2 formation, with Griezmann and Álvarez up front and Gallagher and Giuliano Simeone on the wings. In goal, the Argentine opted to bring on Musso, repeating what he had done in the other Copa del Rey matches. On the other side, Flick left Gavi and Lewandowski on the bench and put Dani Olmo, Ferran Torres and Yamal in the starting eleven, who was in doubt after injuring his left foot at the weekend. What is certain is that the Colchonera strategy began to bear fruit early on, with Julián Alvarez needing just 46 seconds to open the scoring, finishing perfectly from a cross by Griezmann (1′).
First minute of the game and Atlético's goal ???? #sporttvportugal #FUTEBOLnaSPORTTV #CopaDelRey #Barcelona #AtleticoMadrid pic.twitter.com/vjgB315Chv
— sport tv (@sporttvportugal) February 25, 2025
Shortly afterwards, the spider continued his great performance when he saw the Frenchman break through the middle and passed the ball to him, thus providing the assist for the second goal of the match: Griezmann received the ball, beat Balde and shot for 0-2 (6′). After Atleti's dazzling start, Barça almost responded through Ferran who, after appearing alone, shot for Musso to save (12′). With the team balanced in attack and the central defenders practically in the final third of the attack, the goal finally came through an excellent collective move, which ended with Koundé setting up Pedri (19′). Soon after, the Catalans benefited from a corner on the left, Raphinha put the ball at the far post and Cubarsí finished to equalise (21′).
It was impossible for Barcelona to have a worse start ????
Griezmann scores the second in just five minutes ???? #sporttvportugal #FUTEBOLnaSPORTTV #CopaDelRey #Barcelona #AtleticoMadrid pic.twitter.com/JoSxgkWkj1
— sport tv (@sporttvportugal) February 25, 2025
Pedri reduced the deficit and Cubarsi equalized 2️⃣ minutes later ????
See the goals ???? #sporttvportugal #FUTEBOLnaSPORTTV #CopaDelRey #Barcelona #AtleticoMadrid pic.twitter.com/xI6L10YDhy
— sport tv (@sporttvportugal) February 25, 2025
After four goals in 20 minutes, the game calmed down, but the home team continued to have more possession and look dangerous. Ferran Torres continued to be wasteful up front and, in a move in which he beat the goalkeeper, he was unable to finish (32'). Just before half-time, Raphinha took another corner from the right, the ball again travelled to the far post, where Iñigo Martínez appeared completely alone to head the ball in for the comeback (41').
Iñigo Martinez scoring Barcelona's 3️⃣ ???? #sporttvportugal #FUTEBOLnaSPORTTV #CopaDelRey #Barcelona #AtleticoMadrid pic.twitter.com/VHcbBxngFq
— sport tv (@sporttvportugal) February 25, 2025
The second half began with Atlético Madrid once again coming close to scoring, but Szczesny managed to stop Griezmann, who was still alone (52'). The game continued to be intense and well-contested, but the ball was moving far from the goal, unlike in the first half. Yamal finally came into his own in the last 20 minutes, getting past Reinildo on the right and crossing for Lewandowski to finish (74'). In the next move, Raphinha dribbled past Molina on the left and sent the Pole through, but this time the ball went wide (76'). The Colchoneros reacted immediately, with Llorente reducing the deficit with a first-time shot from the edge of the area (84'), before Correa wasted an equaliser (88'). In added time, Koundé slipped and left Samuel Lino alone on the left, the former Gil Vicente drove into the area and passed the ball to Sorloth who, with only the Polish goalkeeper to beat, scored the equaliser in an epic match (90+3′). The second leg is scheduled for early April.
Yamal danced and Lewandowski did what he does best ???? #sporttvportugal #FUTEBOLnaSPORTTV #CopaDelRey #Barcelona #AtleticoMadrid pic.twitter.com/omVs7ryFgK
— sport tv (@sporttvportugal) February 25, 2025
Llorente reduced the deficit for Atlético ???? #sporttvportugal #FUTEBOLnaSPORTTV #CopaDelRey #Barcelona #AtleticoMadrid pic.twitter.com/eEKhhOEp3d
— sport tv (@sporttvportugal) February 25, 2025
observador
