Athletic Bilbao beat Mallorca on penalties to win Copa del Rey and end 40-year trophy wait

Athletic Bilbao beat Mallorca on penalties to win Copa del Rey and end 40-year trophy wait

Athletic Bilbao beat Spanish heavyweights Barcelona and Atletico Madrid on their solution to the ultimate

Athletic Bilbao ended their run of six successive Copa del Rey last defeats as they earned a dramatic penalty shootout victory over Mallorca to finish a 40-year look forward to silverware.

Athletic clinched their twenty fourth Copa del Rey title – and first since 1984 – when Alex Berenguer stepped as much as seal a 4-2 win within the shootout in Seville.

It sparked jubilant scenes at a sold-out La Cartuja stadium and ended Athletic’s painful current run within the competitors, throughout which they misplaced two finals in as many weeks in 2021.

Dani Rodriguez fired Mallorca – fifteenth in La Liga – forward within the twenty first minute after Athletic did not clear from a nook.

Athletic, pushing for a top-four La Liga end below former Barcelona supervisor Ernesto Valverde, had been denied an equaliser earlier than half-time when Nico Williams’ end was dominated out for offside.

However Oihan Sancet drew them degree shortly after the interval, curling in after the influential Williams regained possession and performed him by way of.

Neither facet was capable of finding a winner, with Williams failing to hit the goal within the second interval of additional time whereas Mallorca’s Vedat Muriqi noticed his header pushed away by Athletic goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala.

Mallorca, who performed in Spanish soccer’s third tier as lately as 2018, had been aiming to win the Copa del Rey for under the second time following their 2003 triumph.

However, of their fortieth Spanish Cup last – the newest two of which had been each misplaced in April 2021 after the pandemic delayed the 2020 last – it was Athletic who had been in a position to have fun a long-awaited success.

Within the shootout, the 23-year-old Agirrezabala saved Manu Morlanes’ spot-kick and Nemanja Radonjic missed the goal, as Athletic’s first 4 penalty takers all discovered the online.

Solely Barcelona, with 31, have gained the trophy on extra events than Athletic, Spain’s fourth-oldest membership who keep a singular philosophy of solely fielding gamers of Basque origin.

Line-ups

Ath Bilbao

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 13Agirrezabala
  • 18De Marcos
  • 3Vivian
  • 4ParedesBooked at 27mins
  • 17BerchicheSubstituted forLekueat 105+1′minutes
  • 16Ruíz de GalarretaSubstituted forGómezat 80′minutes
  • 24PradosSubstituted forVesgaat 45′minutes
  • 9WilliamsSubstituted forBerenguerat 90′minutes
  • 8SancetSubstituted forMuniainat 90′minutes
  • 11Nico Williams
  • 12GuruzetaSubstituted forGarcíaat 90′minutes

Substitutes

  • 1Simón
  • 6Vesga
  • 7Berenguer
  • 10Muniain
  • 14García Carrillo
  • 15Lekue
  • 19García de Albéniz
  • 20Villalibre
  • 21Herrera
  • 22García
  • 30Gómez

Mallorca

Formation 5-3-2

  • 13Greif
  • 20GonzálezBooked at 126mins
  • 24ValjentSubstituted forMaffeoat 90′minutes
  • 21Raíllo
  • 6Arias CopeteSubstituted forNastasicat 105+3′minutes
  • 3Latorre GruesoSubstituted forVan der Heydenat 111′minutes
  • 10DarderSubstituted forMorlanesat 62′minutes
  • 12de Almeida Costa
  • 14RodríguezSubstituted forRadonjicat 74′minutesBooked at 119mins
  • 17LarinSubstituted forSánchezat 62′minutes
  • 7MuriqiBooked at 90mins

Substitutes

  • 1Rajkovic
  • 2Nastasic
  • 4Van der Heyden
  • 5Mascarell
  • 8Morlanes
  • 9Prats
  • 11Costa
  • 15Maffeo
  • 18Sánchez
  • 23Radonjic
  • 25Cuéllar

Referee:
José Luis Munuera Montero