This Thursday, Atletico Madrid played poorly and suffered an embarrassing 2-1 loss to Spanish third-tier Cultural Leonesa. The defeat meant that Diego Simeone’s side got knocked out from the Copa del Rey. Away from home, the team from the capital suffered the comeback in the second half of the extra time. Angel Correa scored the only goal for Atleti. Julen Castaneda and Sergio Benito scored the goals for Cultural Leonesa.
In the first half, Atletico Madrid took the initiative in the game. Even though they had the ball, Diego Simeone’s men were unable to break through the defense of Leonesa.
In the second stage, the confrontation was a little more balanced, and it was Atleti who took the lead. At the 62nd minute, Joao Felix assisted Angel Correa, who, with his left foot, sent it to the back of the net. 0-1 Atletico.
With the setback, Leonesa started to attack, managing to swing the nets for the first time at the 83rd minute, in a beautiful half-volley by Julen Castaneda.
According to the rules of the competition, the game went to extra time after the draw. Atleti tried to press, but without efficiency, and weren’t able to score. At the 108th minute, however, Leonesa had a good counter-attack and, after a beautiful cross, Benito fired home to beat goalkeeper Adan and make every fan who attended the stadium and the staff erupts. 2-1 Cultural Leonesa. Heroic.
Now, Cultural Leonesa will face Valencia on January 29 for the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey. Atletico Madrid, on the other hand, will need to recover physically and mentally from the embarrassment and focus once again on La Liga.
For the next matchday of the Spanish Championship, Atleti welcomes Leganes and the fans wait for a good result. Especially because the match after that will be the derby against Real Madrid.