MADRID – Neymar bagged a double as Barcelona twice came from behind to book their place in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey with a 3-2 win over nine-man Atletico Madrid to seal a 4-2 aggregate victory.
Fernando Torres struck for the hosts inside the first minute to cancel out Lionel Messi’s winner in last week’s first leg, but Neymar grabbed a vital away goal just nine minutes later.
Raul Garcia briefly restored Atletico’s lead from the penalty spot, but Barca were in front by halftime thanks to a Miranda own goal and a wonderful counter-attack rounded off by Neymar.
Atletico captain Gabi was then sent-off during halftime as players and coaches from both sides clashed at the end of the first period.
The home side should have been reduced to nine men earlier when Arda Turan somehow escaped with just a yellow card after throwing his boot at one of the officials in the second-half, but did eventually see another red card when Mario Suarez picked up a second booking late on.
“I liked the way the team reacted after conceding in a strange way in the first minute,” said Barca boss Luis Enrique.
Tempers flared when Manzano brought an exhilarating first-half to an end with Gabi failing to return for the second period having been sent-off in the tunnel.
“I just said to the referee it was a penalty and a red card, you will see on TV that you have made a mistake,” Gabi told Canal Plus.
“Then he told me that I was sent-off. I didn’t say anything else.”
Diego Simeone’s men were extremely fortunate to not then go down to nine men when Turan incredibly threw his boot at an assistant referee for failing to award the hosts a free-kick.
The Turkish international was shown a yellow card by Manzano, which should also mean he will escape retrospective punishment as the incident was seen by the referee.
Next up for Barcelona will be a semi-final meeting with Villarreal or Getafe, who play the second leg of their quarter-final on today.
