The second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final between Barcelona and Atletico was played on April 2nd in Madrid. Since the first one ended in a draw, both teams had a clean slate to play with. Whoever won the match would be the one to advance to the finale of the tournament. After a hard few months, Atletico desperately needed a win in front of their home crowd. Try hard as they may have, they could not break Barcelona’s no-loss streak.
The game between the two Spanish giants was heated the moment it began. Barca immediately moved the game towards Juan Musso’s net, and almost scored the opening goal of the game in only its second minute. While the move did not lead to a change in the score, it did raise the temperature on the field.
Not long after the match began settling, Cesar Azpilicueta fouled Raphinha from behind. The move earned him a yellow car that almost got promoted to a red. The game was stopped, giving the referee a chance to watch the replay of the incident and make a final decision. To the relief of all Atletico fans, he stood by his first decision.
Having been pressed to the wall in the first minutes, Atletico pushed back, determined to show that they were not going to go down without a fight. The game looked quite even until the 27th minute. It was then that Ferran Torres put the ball in his opponent’s net after an assist from Lamine Yamal. Atletico spent the rest of the first half trying to equalize the score. They were unsuccessful in their efforts, managing only to rack up a few more yellow cards for various offenses.
After the break, Atletico returned in full force, hoping not to let Barcelona leave Madrid with a win and a promotion to the Copa del Rey finale. The second half of the match belonged entirely to them. In the 69th minute, it seemed like their efforts would finally pay off. Alexander Sorloth managed to get past the Catalan defense and put the ball inside Wojciech Szczęsny’s net. Unfortunately for him, he was offside and the score did not change.
Barcelona lost some of its steam in the second half, which resulted in their defense having their hands full fighting off Atletico’s attacks. Despite a few dangerous situations on both sides of the field, Torres’ goal remained the only one scored throughout the game. Barcelona’s victory may not have been great, but it was enough to get them to the biggest game of the tournament.
Since the other semi-final was won by Real Madrid, this year’s finale of Copa del Rey will be a good, old-fashioned El Classico. It will take place on April 26th at Estadio de la Cartuja in Seville. Both Real and Barcelona put in less-than-perfect performances in their respective semi-finals. This creates a question. What will the big culmination of the tournament look like? Are the viewers in for a heated, aggressive match, or a boring, mediocre game?
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to our newsletter here. Check out Stadium Rant Original shows on our Youtube channel and subscribe! Give our socials Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok a follow for more great content!
