Real Madrid took part in the fight for the last place in the semi-final of this year’s King’s Cup Athletic Bilbao. It was the 240th official meeting between the two teams. The royals more often in their history faced only Barcelona, which, by the way, was eliminated by Los Leones in the previous round. Interestingly, in the last decade, footballers from the Basque Country have only won two games. The overall balance is better for Los Blancos, who won their 120th games. On the other hand, the Basques were better in the 75th, and the result was a draw in the 44th.
The current La Liga leader, Real Madrid, came to Bilbao without his best player, Karim Benzema. The French is suffering from the trauma he suffered in the league match against Elche. It was undoubtedly a serious weakening of the Royal team, because no one needs to be convinced that the experienced striker is a key player in the Madrid team. Besides, the 34-year-old loves to play with Athletic. He has scored four goals this season, and a total of 18 in 27 games.
Carlo Ancelotti decided not to risk and save his ace. It seemed that Luka Jović might have his chance. Nothing of that. The Italian coach decided to surprise and started the cup clash with the so-called the false nine, played by Marco Asensio. The Spaniard, however, probably misunderstood the coach’s assumptions, because he was practically invisible throughout the first half, including several contacts with the ball. The midfielder too often went to the side zones and even when he tried to play the ball to his partners, he was just terrible.
In general, the guests looked quite pale in front of the Basque Country footballers running like crazy. The hosts from the first second threw their rivals down the throats. The high pressure they applied often allowed them to pick up the ball quickly, which made Los Blancos in trouble more than once or twice. The Madrid team also struggled to get out of their own half at times. Ancelotti’s players looked tired, which was not surprising as some of them 48 hours. was in Brazil.
Athletic had the best opportunity to take the lead in the 10th minute. Dani Garcia caught the stray ball and fired a very strong shot from a distance, which Thibaut Courtois struggled to deal with. The Belgian goalkeeper made full use of his enormous reach. A few moments later, Iker Muniain found himself in the penalty area and gave a powerful shot, but only hit the side net. After the first half, Real fans could breathe a sigh of relief and count on the improvement of their favorites after the break.
After switching sides, the game image did not change. The team led by Ancelotti could not find an idea of a threat to the goal guarded by Julen Agirrezabale, who was literally dying of boredom. Los Leones, on the other hand, continued to show the initiative, especially at the beginning of this latter part of the competition. Two minutes after the game was restarted, Inigo Martinez tried to surprise the Madrid goalkeeper, but the latter effectively intervened. A moment later Raul Garcia tried his strength, but the striker made a slight mistake, as the ball hit by him with his head flew right next to the post.
Later in the match there was a lot of fighting and sharp fouls. Neither team was going to let go. After an hour of play, Vinicius Junior ended his participation in this match, who did not show his full skills that day. His place on the pitch was taken by Isco, which made Marco Asensio more often glued to the right side of the field, which made the Spaniard much more active than before.
It was only in the last quarter of an hour of the game that the Royal players fired the first shot at the hosts’ goal. At one point, the duo Marco Asensio – Casemiro showed off with a double action. The latter found himself perfectly in the penalty area. He had plenty of space and time. He fired the shot, but Julen Agirrezabala dealt with it. The Brazilian should have behaved much better, and so this missed opportunity took revenge on the whole team.
When it seemed that we would witness extra time, Casemiro made a terrible mistake in bringing the ball out of his own sixteen. The midfielder passed the ball directly to the feet of Athletic players who carefully used it, and more specifically Alex Berenguer, who perfectly fit the ball into the net.
So the Basques, after eliminating Barcelona, threw the second Spanish giant from the national cup. In addition to Los Leones, Rayo Vallecano, Valencia and Real Betis also made the semi-finals.
Athletic Bilbao — Real Madryt 1:0 (0:0)
Goals: Alex Berenguer (89 ‘)
Yellow cards: Dani Garcia – Toni Kroos
Athletic: Julen Agirrezabala — Oscar de Marcos, Yeray Alvarez, Inigo Martinez, Yuri Berchiche — Nico Williams (46. Alex Berenguer), Dani Garcia, Mikel Vesga, Iker Muniain (90. Mikel Balenziaga) — Raul Garcia (78. Nico Serrano), Inaki Williams
Real: Thibaut Courtois — Lucas Vazquez, Eder Militao, Nacho Fernandez, David Alaba — Luka Modrić, Casemiro, Toni Kroos (76. Eduardo Camavinga) — Rodrygo, Marco Asensio, Vinicius Junior (60. Isco)
Royal Society – Betis
In the first quarter-final match of the King’s Cup on Thursday, Real Sociedad faced Real Betis, who performed sensationally this season. The visitors from Andalusia came to the Basque Country without a few important players. Despite this, they played a very good match and beat the demanding opponent 4: 0. Juanmi, a former Txuri-Urdin footballer, started shooting in the 12th minute. The hosts, who lost a goal at their own request, behaved badly in defense. The next goals were scored after the break. Juanmi and Willian Jose from the penalty spot and Aitor Ruibal re-entered the list of shooters. They both got off the bench.
Real Sociedad – Real Betis 0:4 (0:1)
Goals: Juanmi (12′, 57′), Willian Jose (83′), Aitor Ruibal (87′)
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