Barcelona and Atletico Madrid staged thrilling comebacks in a wild 4-4 draw in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals on Tuesday.
Atletico stormed ahead with two early goals in the opening six minutes, only to concede four unanswered.
But the drama didn’t end there – Los Rojiblancos clawed their way back, striking twice in the final 10 minutes, with substitute Alexander Sorloth delivering the stoppage-time equalizer.
"It's the worst result after we were up 4-2," Barcelona playmaker Pedri said. "It had already happened in the league and again now. We have to be more careful. We have to learn to keep it from happening."
Atletico had beaten Barcelona 2-1 in the Spanish league when the teams last met in December, with Sorloth scoring the winner six minutes into stoppage time.
"We never give up," Atletico forward Julian Alvarez said. "We always keep our heads up, believing that we can come back. That's what we always do. We played a great match, but there are still 90 minutes left."
Barcelona saw Atletico jump to an early lead with goals by Alvarez 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 Cubarsi. 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 at Atletico’s Metropolitano Stadium in April.
The winner will play either Real Madrid or Real Sociedad, which will play their first-leg match Wednesday in Basque Country.
Barcelona last won the competition in 2021, and Atletico in 2013.
The teams will meet again in the Spanish league in Madrid on March 16.
Until the semifinal stage, the Copa del Rey’s knockout rounds were single elimination.
Spanish media reported that a fan was detained following clashes between Barcelona supporters and police.
