Barcelona 4-4 Atletico Madrid: Match review | OneFootball

The first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final between FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid ended in a draw. Not the ideal result for either team, but it is one that now guarantees a massive second leg. However, Barcelona will still be the side left more frustrated by this result.

Given that the second leg will now take place at Atletico Madrid’s home stadium, Barça can no longer count on the majority of the support backing them up in the game. Still, this recent 4-4 draw was one that the Catalan giants could have and should have won.

Early on, La Blaugrana ended up conceding twice to Atletico Madrid in the opening ten minutes. The two goals came in quick succession and it was primarily due to individual errors and miscalculations that Barcelona ended up conceding those goals.

Soon after, however, Barça found life again and began to control proceedings better. As a result of that, the flow of the game improved and the team’s midfield truly began to shine. Pedri, in particular, was the heart of everything positive that Barcelona was trying to produce and execute.

He scored the first goal and enabled the team to start posing more of a threat. Then, through two corners taken by Raphinha, the Catalan club scored twice through centre-back partners Inigo Martinez and Pau Cubarsi. With that, Barcelona were leading 3-2 by halftime after being 0-2 down early on in the game.

With no changes for the second half, Barcelona picked up right where they left off. However, the errors soon began to trickle on down and the cracks in the team began to show themselves. For once, Hansi Flick completely got his substations wrong and that cost him a significant victory at the Montjuic Stadium.

While Ferran Torres may have been finding difficulty in scoring, he was still relentless in terms of his pressure and the threat he posed as a counter-attacking weapon. With Robert Lewandowski on the pitch instead of him, it was clear to see that the team struggled in terms of applying pressure and it gave Diego Simeone’s side much more freedom to attack.

Similarly, both Pedri and Dani Olmo coming off had a similar impact in terms of the team’s control on the ball. With players like Gavi and Fermin Lopez coming on instead, Barça began playing in a much more chaotic fashion and it was exactly what Atletico Madrid needed to bounce back and make it 4-4.

Now, the second leg awaits Barcelona and it will hardly be an easy task. However, Hansi Flick’s men have proven time and time again this season that no away stadium intimidates them. With a strong mentality and a big performance, there is still a lot left to fight for when it comes to Barcelona and their chances of reaching the Copa del Rey final.