Barcelona Atlètic draw with Cordoba in playoff final

Pocho Roman's equazlier in the 87th minute keeps Barcelona Atlètic's promotion aspirations alive ahead of the second leg in the playoff final against Cordoba.

The Catalan side found themselves down a goal early with Alberto Toril scoring in the eighth minute to put the visitors ahead. It was a simple cross from the left where Toril was able to easily get away from centerback Mikayil Faye.

Despite trailing so early, Barcelona Atlètic didn't let the scoreboard affect how they approached the game. They stuck to their style and created a handful of opportunities to equalize.

It seemed like the Catalan side was going to head into the return leg down a goal but in the 87th minute, Pocho Roman was on the spot to receive a pass in from the left, much to the delight of his teammates and the crowd at the Estadi Johan Cruyff.

"We deserved to win," Roman said after the game. "Luckily I was able to score to help the team. We are going to Cordoba with a lot of excitement and confidence."

The equalizer was a bit of a relief heading into the second leg. Going into the game needing a goal is much different than knowing things are level.

While he was proud of his team for finding that late equalizer, manager Rafael Marquez was none too pleased with the refereeing and made it respectfully known in his post-match interview, claiming the referee was too lenient and didn't do enough to rein in some of the challenges.

In any case, the draw was a decent result for the Blaugrana and have everything to play for in the second leg. Earning promotion wasn't the main goal heading into the season but would be something signiificant for those young players. It would mean a step up in level, giving them the opportunity to better prepare themselves for a potential call up to the senior team.