Atletico surprised with their 2 quick goals in the first 6 minutes where Barcelona seemed to be still not too ready in attack but 2 quick goals in the span of 2 minutes in the 19th and 21st minutes clearly made the situation a little unexpected and the 3rd goal scored by Inigo Martinez now makes Barcelona turn the lead over Atletico in the first half this time.
Honestly, this was beyond my expectations as I felt that they would try a few things including stalling the game but what happened in the first half was really interesting to see.
Now I just expect the second half to play in the same pattern because it's very exciting for a big match where points are decisive to do with a game with this much tension.
Atletico Madrid's defense was too fragile when Barcelona pressed from all sides, but unfortunately Ferran Torres missed his two big chances. Pedri, Cubarsi, Inigo took advantage of goal opportunities well and that made Barcelona close the first half with a win. In the second half I think Atletico Madrid will make some adjustments in defense, Barcelona will also do it without having to reduce the intensity of attack. Yamal, Kounde and Pedri were really good in this game, but Raphinha and Ferran probably won't complete the game full time.
If Barcelona can play as well in the second half, then I think Atletico Madrid will have to accept defeat in this first leg with a record of conceding more than 4 goals. However, Barcelona must also remain focused on defense rather than total attack. Atletico Madrid is dangerous in building fast counter attacks, so Hansi Flick also still has to instruct his defenders not to get too far from his defensive area.
What I saw in this match was that the aerial duels of the Atletico players were poor and they could not park the players which was detrimental to themselves but in the end we could see that Barcelona's defense was also not that good, especially for the defense and it was evident that after they took a 4-2 lead, their defense had many gaps which in the end were exploited by a quick counterattack by Atletico in the crucial minute which made them manage to equalize the score again with an aggregate of 4-4 for the first leg this time.
The match did have a lot of surprises but for the size of a big match in the semi-finals, this clearly provides a separate thing in my opinion because they do not want to lose easily in this semi-final.
In a few hours we'll see how Madrid's clash with Sociedad plays out, whether the situation will be the same or whether there will be a new surprise where the championship candidate meets the dark horse of this semi-final in their first leg.