Barcelona and Atletico Madrid share eight-goal Copa del Rey thriller

Barcelona and Atletico Madrid draw 4-4 in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal.

Barcelona and Atletico Madrid both rallied from two goals down in a frantic 4-4 draw in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinal at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys in Catalonia, Spain.

Atletico scored twice in the first six minutes before conceding four unanswered goals and coming back to even the match with goals in the final 10 minutes, including the equaliser by substitute Alexander Sorloth three minutes into stoppage time on Tuesday.

Barcelona saw Atletico jump to an early lead, with goals by Julian 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 equaliser 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 on Wednesday in Basque Country.

Barcelona last won the competition in 2021, and Atletico in 2013.

Atletico had beaten Barcelona 2-1 in the Spanish league when the teams last met in December.

Until the semifinal stage, the Copa’s knockout rounds were played in single-elimination games.