FC Barcelona 4-4 Atlético de Madrid: Sorloth keeps the tie alive in a 'thrilling' match

The path to the grand final of the Copa del Rey 2024-25 will be played in Madrid. FC Barcelona returned to the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys to face Atlético de Madrid in the first leg of the tournament semifinals, and in a clear demonstration of how cruel and unfair football can be, they could only manage a draw (4-4) against a much weaker opponent who, thanks to two goals scored in the dying moments of the match, kept the tie alive.

The team led by Hansi Flick dominated the squad managed by Diego Simeone for almost the entire match, even leading the score by two goals. However, the rojiblancos, who seemed buried, 'revived' in the last 10 minutes of the match and equalized with a last-minute goal from Alexander Sorloth, meaning the tie will move to the Riyadh Air Metropolitano with everything to define.

The 'hurricane' of Barça overwhelmed Atlético in the first half

The night could not have started worse for Barça. Just as both teams were settling onto the pitch, Szczesny had to stretch to repel a close-range header from Julián Álvarez, and from the subsequent corner, Clément Lenglet flicked on a cross from Antoine Griezmann for the appearance of the 'Spider', who opened the scoring when the clock barely marked 1'.

Five minutes later, at 6', the Argentine forward, who was a headache for the Blaugrana defense during the early moments of the match, stole the ball in his own half and assisted 'Principito', who after dribbling past Alejandro Balde, curled his shot with his right foot to double the visitors' lead, making the outlook very discouraging for Flick's side.

However, the higher the mountain, the more this team with a predatory mentality rises. The Catalans began to corner Atleti in their area, and after Ferran Torres warned with a one-on-one that was saved by Juan Musso, Pedri narrowed the gap in the score at 20' with a moving penalty after a great assist from Jules Koundé.

Just a minute later, Pau Cubarsí headed over Pablo Barrios from a spectacular corner cross by Raphinha and celebrated his first goal as a professional player to level the score. The Blaugrana dominance over the rojiblancos became overwhelming, and five minutes before halftime, Iñigo Martínez completed the comeback with another header after another great assist from the '11' Blaugrana, sending the match to halftime with a partial lead for the culés.

Lamine Yamal led Barça's comeback

Although his name does not appear in the statistics of the first half, Lamine Yamal was the main source of danger for Barça in the first 45 minutes. More than 40% of the Catalans' attacks were generated from the right side, where the star from Mataró bled Javi Galán, who found no way to stop him.

After the second goal from the colchoneros, the Blaugranas, far from shrinking, became a real whirlwind. The team took control of the ball, with possession marking 57.4% for the culés against 42.6% for the rojiblancos. Moreover, most of the play occurred in midfield (49.3%) followed by the Atlético third (37.2%) and a scant (13.5%) in the area of Barça.

In fact, the pressure from Barça was such that the average positions showed how 21 players were located in the Madrid half for most of the first half, with Wojciech Szczesny being the only player in the Blaugrana half. The culés had blood in their eyes, and they demonstrated it on the pitch.

Atlético keeps the tie alive

Upon returning from halftime, Atlético de Madrid wanted to get back into the match, but their attempts came to nothing against the impenetrable wall of the Blaugranas, who conceded no space after the two goals suffered in the early minutes of the match.

Barça, with patience and wisdom, managed the ball and did not rush any attack, aware of their superiority on the pitch, although they continued to threaten Musso's goal. Raphinha and Lamine were two daggers on the wings, and at minute 74 they managed to put some distance between them.

Yamal made a spectacular play on the right side of the area, feigning to go inside and then going outside to assist Robert Lewandowski for the fourth goal of the night. The match seemed settled, and even the Pole came close to a double, but the reality would be very different.

At minute 84, Marcos Llorente reduced the score again with an unstoppable missile for Szczesny, reviving an Atleti that seemed to be in K.O. The pressure from the rojiblancos increased, and when the referee brought the whistle to his mouth, Lenglet sent a great long pass to Samu Lino, who faced the Blaugrana area completely alone and assisted Alexander Sorloth to score the equalizer in a déjà vu of the league match, leaving the tie more open than ever.

Sorloth punishes Barça again

With his goal in the 90+4, Alexander Sorloth established himself as one of the great tormentors of FC Barcelona. Despite his team being dominated throughout the match, the Norwegian struck again to 'kill' the Catalans in stoppage time. He first did it on December 21, 2024, in LaLiga, when he celebrated a goal in the 90+6 to give the rojiblancos victory and a temporary lead.

Now, this Tuesday, February 25, the Nordic punished the Blaugranas again past the 90', although this time it was only enough to equalize the score. With this goal, the player has now celebrated four consecutive visits scoring at least one goal in the Catalan stronghold and has become the player who has scored the most goals against the culés in added time (3) since the 2003/04 season, surpassing the two goals from Fernando Torres and Jude Bellingham. Barça has a new nemesis.

Technical sheet of the match:    

• FC Barcelona, 4: Szczesny (P); Koundé, Pau Cubarsí, Iñigo Martínez, Balde; Frenkie de Jong, Pedri (Eric García, min. 85), Dani Olmo (Gavi, min. 68); Lamine Yamal, Raphinha (Fermín López, min. 85), Ferran Torres (Lewandowski, min. 68).
• Atlético de Madrid, 4: Juan Musso; Marcos Llorente, José María Giménez, Clément Lenglet, Javi Galán (Reinildo, min. 55); Conor Gallagher (Molina, min. 60), Pablo Barrios, Rodrigo De Paul (Correa, min. 68), Giuliano Simeone (Lino, min. 55); Julián Alvarez, Antoine Griezmann (Sorloth, min. 68).
• Goals: 0-1 Julián Álvarez (min. 1); 0-2 Antoine Griezmann (min. 6); 1-2 Pedri (min. 19); 2-2 Pau Cubarsí (min. 21); 3-2 Iñigo Martínez (min. 41); 4-2 Lewandowski (min. 74); 4-3 Marcos Llorente (min. 84); 4-4 Sorloth (min. 90+4).
• Referee: Hernández Hernández. Amonestó a los colchoneros Galán, Giménez, Barrios y Sorloth.