Atletico Madrid was shockingly eliminated from the Copa del Rey after suffering a 1-0 loss to third division team Cornella on Wednesday.
Atletico, current leaders of Spanish La Liga, decided to sit several of their first-team players for the matchup but were still considered an overwhelming favorite to get a big win. However, it looks like their opponent didn’t get that memo.
Cornella were the better team early on and managed to get the lead in the seventh minute. Agus Medina delivered a cross from a free-kick to the penalty box, and Adrian Jimenez was the fastest to meet the ball, delivering a well-placed volley to give his team the lead.
Atletico spent the rest of the game trying to find a way back into the game, but their attacks fell short. This caused frustration among players, resulting in Ricard Sanchez’s red card in the second half.
Cornella, on the other hand, defended well and even had several chances to increase their lead. They ended up having the same number of shots (15) as their opponents but placed six on target compared to zero by Atletico.
This is the second consecutive time that Atletico Madrid got eliminated from the Copa del Rey by a third division squad. In 2019-20, they were sent home by Cultural Leonesa after a 2-1 away loss.
“We always want to win, but today our opponents deserved to go through, just like last year,” said Atletico head coach Diego Simeone. “They competed well, they played the game they wanted to, they won the second balls, they kept up their intensity, and we have to congratulate them as they overpowered us.”
