Atletico Madrid 1-2 Barcelona: Holders take first-leg lead to the Nou Camp

Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals at the Vicente Calderon on Wednesday night.

The visitors led 2-0 at the break after sensational strikes from Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi, the Argentine's 12th goal in all competitions at the Calderon.

However, Atleti gave themselves hope of reaching the final when Antoine Griezmann reduced the deficit with a header just before the hour-mark.

It did not take the holders long to make the breakthrough as Suarez added another goal to his collection of outrageous strikes in his career.

Javier Mascherano won possession near the right-hand touchline before releasing the forward just inside Atleti's half, although he still had a lot of work to do to even threaten his opponents goal.

However, Suarez's quick feet took him past a posse of players and into the area, and with just the advancing Miguel Moya to beat, the Uruguay international kept his cool to toe-poke the ball into the back of the net.

And that stunning individual effort means Suarez has now scored 11 goals from his last 16 shots for Barcelona.

If that strike was impressive, though, then Messi's goal that doubled the visitors' lead after 33 minutes was even better.

Barcelona worked the ball to the Argentine lurking unmarked on the edge of the area, and in the blink of an eye the little playmaker shifted the ball to his left, before unleashing a powerful shot that flew past a helpless Moya and into the top corner of the net.

Diego Simeone reacted by bringing on veteran frontman Fernando Torres in place of defender Sime Vrsaljko at the break, with the Atletico manager also changing formation.

And the switches worked as the home side got themselves back into the tie after 59 minutes with a well-worked free-kick routine. Captain Gabi floated a cross towards Diego Godin, who in turn headed the ball back across the area for the waiting Griezmann to nod home from close range.

That strike gave Atleti real hope of a comeback, as well as raising home spirits in the stands too, and minutes later Jasper Cillessen was called upon to make a brilliant close-range stop with his legs to keep out Griezmann's close-range shot.

However, as the hosts pushed on, so they left more spaces at the back, with Moya doing well to keep out efforts from both Andre Gomes and a Messi free kick, before one final chance fell Atletico's way.

Simeone's side took a quick free kick to Filipe Luis, racing down the left, and from the full back's centre Torres was inches away from equalising with an acrobatic effort that flew inches past the far post.

The tie, though, is still very much alive ahead of the second leg in Catalonia on February 7, with both teams also now missing key personnel for that clash after yellow cards picked up by Gabi and Neymar.