Athletic Bilbao won the 24th Copa del Rey in its history, forty years after the last, by winning in the final against Mallorca (1-1 ap, 4-2 tab). Thanks to this success, Ernesto Valverde’s players also qualified for the next group stage of the Europa League.
The Basques lit the first fuse, on a half-volley from Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta in the 16th minute. But a few moments later, Mallorca opened the scoring thanks to Dani Rodriguez (1-0, 21st). From a corner, the Mallorcan midfielder took advantage of a shift from his captain, Antonio Rallo, in the area to score the first goal of the game with a curling shot from the right. Nico Williams thought he would equalize at the end of the first period, before seeing his goal refused for an offside position (39th). The Bilbao winger had another opportunity to get back on track, just before the break, but he missed the target (45th+1).
Radonjic missed his shot on goal
Launched from deep, Cyle Larin came up against the Basque goalkeeper, Julen Agirrezabala, barely fifteen seconds after returning from the locker room. The Canadian may have regrets since four minutes later, Oihan Sancet equalized for Athletic (1-1, 50th). Served in the area by the youngest of the Williams brothers, the playmaker opened his right foot perfectly to deceive Dominik Greif. Bilbao then mastered the second act, even narrowly failing to snatch victory in the final moments of regulation time, with a header from Gorka Guruzeta.
In overtime, both teams had the opportunity to take the lead. In quick succession, Nico Williams almost doubled the lead, before Vedat Muriqi’s header went wide of the Basque goal. Finally, the Basques won on penalties (4-2) thanks to a save by Agirrezabala on the second Mallorcan attempt and a miss by Nemanja Radonjic on the third.
2024-04-06 22:59:01
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