Thrilling 4-4 Draw Between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona in Copa del Rey

Alexander Sorloth struck late to cap off a thrilling 4-4 draw as Atletico Madrid held Barcelona in a dramatic encounter on Tuesday.

Momentum shifted back and forth in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final, with former Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez shocking the hosts after just 50 seconds and ex-Barcelona star Antoine Griezmann adding a second soon after.

The hosts recovered from their sluggish opening with a Pedri goal and a Pau Cubarsi header bringing them level with 19 minutes played.

Another first-half header from Inigo Martinez and a second-half strike from Robert Lewandowski seemed to have put Hansi Flick's team on the path to victory, before Atletico Madrid staged a comeback of their own.

Marcos Llorente pulled one back for Diego Simeone's team late on, before substitute Sorloth secured a dramatic draw in the third minute of stoppage time to keep the tie evenly poised.

Matching La Liga's top scorers against the league's toughest defense was always expected to create a tense battle, and this one delivered beyond expectations.

After Alvarez finished at the back post and Griezmann fired past Wojciech Szczesny to make it 2-0 in just six minutes, Barcelona looked stunned.

Flick's squad regrouped and took control, making their pressure count through Pedri, who guided Jules Kounde's cutback past Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Juan Musso.

Raphinha's corner just two minutes later was nodded in by Cubarsi to level the score, before Martinez completed the first-half comeback.

Barcelona extended their advantage when their leading scorer Lewandowski stepped off the bench to score, finishing after Yamal's brilliant run down the right.

The early lead Diego Simeone's squad had established was undone, but Llorente slotted past Szczesny to set up a tense ending where the visitors regained momentum.

In the dying moments, Samuel Lino found space and squared the ball to Sorloth, who calmly placed it into the net, setting up an exciting second leg in April.