Atletico Madrid Dumped Out of Copa Del Rey By Third-Tier Cornella

Atletico Madrid leads La Liga, while Cornella is seventh in Segunda B, but that didn't matter on Wednesday.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spanish league leader Atlético Madrid was upset by third-tier Cornellà in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday, losing 1-0 at the Barcelona-based club in the round of 32.

Atlético played with 10 men from the 65th minute when Ricardo Sánchez received his second booking.

Cornellà defender Adrian Jiménez scored the game’s only goal in the eighth minute from a cross by Agus Medina to the near post.

Atlético was never comfortable on Cornellà’s artificial turf. The closest it came to equalizing was Saúl Ñíguez’s shot off the woodwork midway through the first half.

Atlético was also upset by a third-tier team in last season’s Copa, losing 2-1 to Cultural Leonesa.

Coach Diego Simeone acknowledged that “it is the second year in a row” that his team has flopped against a team with a tiny budget.

“Our rivals have played better,” Simeone said. “We had some good attacking moves, but overall our rival (Cornellà) always played better. They took advantage of the set piece and got their goal. It was even more uphill after the sending off. Now we have to find solutions.”

Atlético lost center back José Giménez after he injured his left ankle early on. João Félix also left the match in the second half after he hurt an ankle.

Cornellà is in seventh place of its group in the third tier, with three wins, two draws and four losses.

Atlético leads the Spanish league after having only lost once in 15 rounds. It is set to face Chelsea in the Champions League’s round of 16 in February.

Third-tier sides also ousted topflight teams Celta Vigo and Getafe on Tuesday.