Atletico Madrid Hold Barcelona In 'Crazy' Eight-Goal Copa Del Rey Semi-Final First Leg

Atletico Madrid conceded a two-goal lead then fought back from two down in a wild 4-4 draw with Barcelona in a Copa del Rey semi-final first leg thriller on Tuesday. After Diego Simeone's side scored twice in the opening six minutes through Julian Alvarez and Antoine Griezmann, Barca raced through the gears in a high-octane performance. The superb Pedri Gonzalez pulled one back with Pau Cubarsi, Inigo Martinez and Robert Lewandowski going on to score for the Catalan giants.

Marcos Llorente netted for Atletico before Alexander Sorloth struck in the 93rd minute to leave the tie perfectly poised ahead of the second leg at the Metropolitano stadium on April 2.

"It's a terrible result when you go 4-2 up... you have to be more careful, these are things we have to learn," Pedri told Movistar.

"Today we started badly but I'll focus on how the team reacted.

"When we got in front we have to be calmer... it will be a difficult (second leg) but we will go there to try and win."

Simeone hailed his team's grit, with his substitutes playing a key role as they have done so many times this season.

"We had an enormous competitive spirit," said the Atletico coach.

"The changes freshened up the team, it wasn't an easy game to play, and I love the spirit the lads showed...

"The team began to feel more comfortable as the minutes passed."

Hansi Flick left Barca's top goalscorer Lewandowski out of the starting line-up, with Ferran Torres taking his place in a false nine role.

Simeone picked a strong side despite his side's extremely tricky fixture list, with this the first of three matches against Barca and a Champions League last 16 tie against Real Madrid on the horizon.

Atletico took the lead inside the first minute, with Alvarez pouncing at