Barca and Atletico share eight-goal Copa del Rey thriller

Madrid, Feb. 27: Barcelona and Atletico Madrid both rallied from two goals down in a frantic 4-4 draw in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals on Tuesday.

Atletico scored twice in the first six minutes before conceding four unanswered goals and coming back to even the match with goals in the final 10 minutes, including the equalizer by substitute Alexander Sorloth three minutes into stoppage time.

"It's the worst result after we were up 4-2," Barcelona playmaker Pedri said. "It had already happened in the league and again now. We have to be more careful, we have to learn to keep it from happening."

Atletico had beaten Barcelona 2-1 in Barcelona in the Spanish league when the teams last met in December, with Sorloth scoring the winning six minutes into stoppage time.

"We never give up," Atletico forward Julián Álvarez said. "We always keep our heads up, believing that we can come back. That's what we always do. We played a great match but there are still 90 minutes left."

Barcelona saw Atletico jump to an early lead with goals by Álvarez in the first minute and Antoine Griezmann in the sixth, but the hosts tied the game by the 21st minute thanks to goals two minutes apart by Pedri and Pau Cubarsí. The Catalan club took a 3-2 lead into halftime after Iñigo Martínez scored in the 41st. Robert Lewandowski increased the lead in the 74th. Atletico pulled closer with Marcos Llorente in the 84th and Sorloth got the equalizer from close range.

The second leg will be at Atletico's Metropolitano Stadium will be in April.

The winner will play either Real Madrid or Real Sociedad, which will play their first-leg match on Wednesday in Basque Country.

Barcelona last won the competition in 2021 and Atletico in 2013. The teams will meet again in the Spanish league in a match in Madrid on March 16.

Until the semifinal stage, the Copa's knockout rounds were played in single-elimination games. Spanish media said a fan was detained following conflicts between Barcelona supporters and police.

Chelsea routs Southampton 4-0 

Chelsea wasn't so reliant on Cole Palmer this time. On a frustrating evening for the England star, his Chelsea teammates stepped up — as demanded by their manager — to share the goals in a 4-0 thrashing of last-place Southampton in the Premier League on Tuesday.

Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto, Levi Colwill and Marc Cucurella were the scorers as Chelsea ended a three-match losing run by beating a team destined to go down, perhaps as one of the worst-performing teams to ever play in the Premier League. Southampton has just nine points from 27 games.

Chelsea climbed to fourth place in the standings. The Premier League is likely to get five qualification berths for next season's Champions League.

Bournemouth is a more unlikely contender for Champions League qualification, its ambitions boosted by an 11-match unbeaten run in the league from late November to the end of January.

However, the unheralded south-coast club has now lost three of its last four league matches, the latest being a 2-1 reverse at Brighton after Danny Welbeck scored the 75th-minute winner — three minutes after coming off the bench.

Justin Kluivert had equalized for Bournemouth in the 61st, canceling out Joao Pedro's 12th-minute opener from the penalty spot after he was fouled by goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Bournemouth started the match in sixth place — one point behind fifth — but dropped to seventh and has now been joined on 43 points by Brighton, another improbable candidate for Champions League qualification.

It was a fourth straight win in all competitions for Brighton since a 7-0 loss at Nottingham Forest. Crystal Palace beat Aston Villa 4-1 at home, with Ismaila Sarr scoring twice for the hosts in a match watched by England men's coach Thomas Tuchel.

Jean-Philippe Mateta and Eddie Nketiah also netted for Palace, with Morgan Rogers replying for Villa.

Fulham won 2-1 at Wolverhampton thanks to a goal in the first minute by Ryan Sessegnon and a winner by Rodrigo Muniz.

Inter advances to semifinals 

The Milan derby will be played five times this season. Inter Milan defeated Lazio 2-0 on Tuesday to advance to the two-leg Italian Cup semifinals against city rival AC Milan.

Mark Arnautovic scored with a long-range volley late in the first half at the San Siro and then Hakan Calhanoglu converted a second-half penalty.

Milan beat Roma 3-1 three weeks ago. Inter and Milan have already played three times this season — twice in Serie A (Milan won the first meeting and the other one was a draw) and in the Italian Super Cup final in Saudi Arabia, which was won by Milan.

Bologna will face either Juventus or Empoli, which play on Wednesday, in the other semifinal.

Arnautovic got a rare start in place of Lautaro Martinez, who was rested ahead of Inter's visit to Napoli in a 1-2 Serie A matchup on Saturday.(AP)