Atletico Madrid were stunned by third tier Cultural Leonesa – best known in England for their ‘tuxedo shirt’ kit design a few years ago – in the Copa del Rey round of 32, with Diego Simeone’s side crashing out of the competition with a shocking 2-1 defeat.
Atletico took a second half lead through Angel Correa but the visitors managed to scored a late equaliser before sensationally going on to snatch a winning goal in extra time. The disappointing result heaped further misery on Los Rojiblancos, after they had previously tasted defeat against Eibar on Saturday.
Atletico fielded a fairly strong team, with Joao Felix and Saul Niguez both included in the starting line up. Despite this, the visitors struggled to break down a stubborn Leonesa defence and were starved of scoring opportunities in the first half.
Atleti’s best chance of the opening period came seven minutes in when Vitolo was set free by a fantastic Joao Felix through ball, only for the Spaniard to not convert. Lucas Giffard was then forced into a good save to deny Héctor Herrera, in the only other chance of note during a disappointing opening 45 minutes for Diego Simeone’s side.
Atletico improved after the break, with Vitolo forcing Giffard into another fine save early on. They did manage open the scoring soon after through Correa, when the Argentine latched onto Felix’s clever pass and fired a shot into the back of the net.
Despite dominating possession, Atleti failed to create many more chances and they were made made to pay for their lack of invention when the hosts found an equaliser courtesy of a fine volley from Julen Castaneda. An incredible double save from the Leonesa goalkeeper then sent the game to extra time, much to Simeone’s fury.
The Argentine blood pressure was further increased when the home side registered a sensational winner through Sergio Benito Crujera with just 12 minutes left in the additional period.
Next up, Atleti return to league action, taking on struggling Leganes on Sunday as they look to break out of this worrying spell of form.