Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid gave away the "match of the year": electrifying 4-4 with Julián Álvarez as the star and an agonizing draw
When one of the best teams in the world faces one of the proudest and most intelligent, the highest probability is that a great game will come out. And the one that Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid played in Catalonia for the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final could be one of the candidates for the most exciting game of the year: they tied 4-4 in a duel that had, among many things, an on-fire Julián Álvarez , plus an agonizing draw for Diego Pablo Simeone's team.
Barcelona, coached by German Hansi Flick, is arguably the best football team in the world. Real Madrid, Liverpool and perhaps Inter Milan are the ones who could challenge them for first place. But this season Barça has recovered the brilliance it last had with Luis Enrique as coach, the Messi-Suárez-Neymar season (2014-2017). "The coach is the team's greatest strength because he has the ability to transmit to the players the style of play he proposes," praised Simeone in the run-up to the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final . And the first half proved Cholo right: the home team found themselves two goals down five minutes into the match and before the first half was over they had already turned it around with pure football.
Just as Barcelona may be the best of all, Cholo's Atlético is probably the most uncomfortable , the one that no one wants to face. And in five minutes the Colchonero showed all its power. After 47 seconds Julián Álvarez put the 1-0 in with a touch to the net entering through the second post . The Spider is living a dream moment: he scored his 20th goal in 39 matches with the Madrid team. But the Cordovan is not left alone with the celebrations: after five minutes he recovered in the middle of the field and assisted Antoine Griezmann for the 2-0 and to silence the Olympic Lluís Companys of Montjuic.
At the moment of the 2-0, Cholo looked at the sky and let out a smile; Flick, meanwhile, waved a jacket in anger. And from then on, everything was for the home team. Barcelona plays well and has a notable aggressiveness in recovering the ball in the opponent's half . What the German coach is proposing is truly suffocating. The ex-Racing player Juan Musso saved a one-on-one with Ferrán Torres, but could do nothing about the definition of Pedri, who when he is in good form is one of the best midfielders in the world. The equalizer came in the 20th minute with a header from Pau Cubarsí and before the end the other defender, Iñigo Martínez, also with a header, made it 3-2 after a weak reaction from Musso.
The second half started with less intensity until Robert Lewandowski came on and the home team got going. In the 28th minute, the Pole tapped in after a play by star Lamine Yamal.
The 4-2 scoreline was in keeping with the game's performance, as Barcelona's performance was remarkable. But Flick made a mistake: he kept going for more. The German made changes to increase the lead, not to maintain it. Simeone put everything on the line. And it worked out well for Cholo: Llorente scored and substitute Alexander Sorloth made it 4-4 in the second minute of added time.
Everything was left open, then, and the series will be decided on April 2 in Madrid. And it will surely be another great match.
Clarin
