Atletico loses 2-1 at Albacete in Copa del Rey

Posted Friday, December 09, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

Atletico Madrid’s away woes worsened as it fell 2-1 at third-tier Albacete in the first leg of their Copa del Rey series on Thursday.

While undefeated at home, Gregorio Manzano’s Atletico has yet to win in seven away matches in Spanish competitions this season.

Also, Athletic Bilbao won 1-0 at third-division Oviedo thanks to Oscar de Marcos’ first-half goal, but failed to capitalize on second-half dominance.

Albacete went ahead in the 31st minute through striker Antonio Calle’s spot kick after Atletico defender Alvaro Dominguez handled inside the area.

Adrian Lopez had a chance to pull Atletico even in the 52nd when Miguel Nunez was red-carded for fouling Juanfran Torres in the box, but the striker sent his penalty over the crossbar.

Atletico also lost a man when Dominguez received a red card for fouling Calle on the break with only the goalkeeper to beat, and Albacete defender Jose Zurdo scored from the resulting free kick from the edge of the area in the 62nd.

Adrian halved the deficit for Atletico in the 70th by slotting a deflected pass under the goalkeeper.

“Clearly, given the difference in our respective divisions, Atletico was the favorite,” said Manzano. “We have to accept this result and look to the 90 minutes we have in the Vicente Calderon to overturn it.”

Atletico’s 1-0 win at Celtic last week in the Europa League is its only away win in any competition this season.

Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta recently became the maximum shareholder of Albacete—his boyhood club before joining the Catalan giant as a teenager. His family winery, “Bodega Iniesta,” is a team sponsor and the players’ shirts sport its name.

The return leg of both fourth-round series will be played on Dec. 21.

Barcelona already beat Hospitalet 1-0 in the first leg of their series. The rest of the first-leg games are scheduled for Tuesday, with defending champion Real Madrid playing at Ponferradina.