Atlético dumped out of the cup as Barça impress in LaLiga
There was a major Copa del Rey upset in Cornellà as Atleti were dumped out of the competition by the 2B side. Simeone's men were not the only top flight to be knocked out in the second round but they are the league leaders and on of the most popular sides in Spain. The ingredients were there pre-game: an artificial surface, a home side full of belief and the top flight side featuring many fringe players. Enthusiasm overcame disinterest. The new single game ties were re-introduced by Spanish FA boss Luis Rubiales a year ago and have been warmly received by the majority of supporters even if there is a suspicion that a run in the cup for many top flight sides is a distraction from their main priority of conserving top flight status or a tilt at a European place.
Fired up by the Copa
Simeone left many Atleti fans scratching their heads with his post match comments when he referred to possibly coming back next season. Others feel it was the Argentine's manner of deflecting attention away from the embarrassing result against Cornella. A decent run in the Copa del Rey should be a source of success for many clubs despite the fact that ultimately, there can be only one winner. Many coaches however see these early round games as proverbial 'banana skins' with everything to lose and little to gain against lower league opposition on astroturf pitches. This was exactly what happened to Atlético Madrid yesterday with the team not being up to the challenge with rivals Cornellà fired up by the occasion.
San Mamés show
From Atlético's embarrassment we turn to a fine display from Barça at San Mamés. Despite going behind to an early Athletic goal, the Catalan side turned things around and played some fine football at times with Messi delivering one of his best performances of the season. disfrutó. Pedri and Ansu Fati could be instrumental players in the Argentine's future decision in terms of staying at Camp nou or not. His display yesterday very much carried the hallmarks of a player convinced that he was at the right club. I'm sure this is something that Ronald Koeman is aware of with the Dutch coach finally throwing off the frown to enjoy the spectacle delivered by his side with Leo Messi once again highly instrumental in all the positive play from FC Barcelona.