Atlético Madrid qualified for the eighth final of the Copa del Rey on Thursday evening with little effort. On a visit to Rayo Majadahonda, which completes its competition matches in the Primera RFEF, the team of trainer Diego Simeone was too strong with 0-5. Matheus Cunha’s opening goal should not have counted as, in the absence of VAR, he was not called back after scoring from an offside position.
Simeone decided not to take any risks against the Madrid suburbs and sent a strong team into the field. Kieran Trippier, almost finished with Newcastle United about a transfer, was missing from the selection compared to the won duel with Rayo Vallecano (2-0). Marcos Llorente did the honors in right back position. Furthermore, José Giménez was preferred to Mario Hermoso in the heart of the defense and Cunha was in the center of the striker at the expense of Ángel Correa. Antoine Griezmann started on the bench again; Luis Suárez did play, just like last Sunday.
In the seventeenth minute of play, Atlético erroneously took the lead. In an attempt to work the ball out of his own box, Jorge Casado shot Yannick Carrasco’s leg, after which the leather ended up at Cunha’s feet. The attacker finished off coolly, but he did so from an offside position. In the absence of a video referee, the goal could not be replayed and the score remained 0-1. After the opening goal, the fence was over. Renan Lodi beautifully made it 0-2 in the 26th minute. The left back came into the box at the end of a through pass from Thomas Lemar and found the crossing with a hard, diagonal shot.
On the stroke of the halftime whistle, Suárez put an end to all of Rayo Majadahonda’s hopes. Llorente laid the ball from the edge of the penalty area for the Uruguayan, who shot in at the penalty spot: 0-3. In the second act Griezmann came in for Lemar. The striker took care of the 0-4 on the advice of Correa, who also came in, but he had to leave the field injured again not much later. Since Simeone had already made five substitutions, the Colchoneros from the 75th minute with ten men. Nevertheless, Atlético ran further away four minutes after Griezmann’s resignation. It was substitute João Félix who, after a measured cross pass from Lodi, shot the ball into the intersection: 0-5.
