Again on penalties. Like a recurring nightmareAtlético lost the Cup final against Real again on penalties. Like in ’87. The circle closes just as it opened. That defeat came one day after Jesús Gil was elected president. This, in the same season in which his son Miguel Ángel and Enrique Cerezo have sold the majority of their shares to an investment fund. That was another way of understanding football; This is another way of understanding life.
But in the center the protagonists are always the same. In 87 Arconada, the legend, saved two penalties for Real to win the Cup on a summer night plagued by mosquitoes. The Sevillian spring did not have Arconada in Real’s goal. There was Unai Marrero, one of those boys, who like everyone else, wanted to be like him. And as then the myth, Unai saved two penalties in the shootout inspired by a shirt inspired by the one the idol wore in those 80s leagues.
They were the first two, the ones who launched the specialists, Sorloth and Julián Álvarez, who were stopped by the goalkeeper of the Royal. Carlos Soler was the first for Real and then only Oskarsson missed, the man whom the fans sing to the base of a Bad Bunny song turned into an anthem for the final in Seville. Nico González, Sucic, Almada, Aihen and Baena complied before Pablo Marín had the responsibility of deciding on his right foot If the final went on a little longer it ended there. He chose to finish. And Real is champion again.
The San Sebastian team had reached the goal with the punctuality of a sundial. In the first and last minute of the first half. Barrenetxea started with a header and Oyarzabal finished from the penalty spotas if he wanted to connect this final with the one he beat Athletic with his goal from eleven meters in 2020. There it seemed like the Cup was for the San Sebastian team, in the emotional superiority that comes from hitting the rival at the beginning and at the end of the first half. Later, when he had to really decide, the captain wasn’t around to launch his own. He had left everything in the field before abandoning it due to a cramp.
Oyarzabal was always there to give his teammates a way out. Now that he is not the fastest nor the most unbalanced in dribbling, he is still the smartest. And Barrenetxea, with his hair dyed in the Griezmann style, as if he were heir to the Frenchman whom his former fans shouted viciously at, always offered himself on the side to provide that imbalance that the captain imagines.
The “7” and “10” of Real Sociedad, the two internationals, scored the goals, but Guedes was always in the middle. He gave the cross to Barrenetxea from the left in the first move of the game to score the first and received the blow on the head from Musso when he wanted to finish off the second.
Along the way, Atlético had become great with the score at a disadvantage. With the pressure of having to equalize, he took the initiative. Until he scored Lookmanone of the most active members of the rojiblanco team. Barrenetxea was always chasing him on the side, becoming the fifth defender from the right side. The Nigerian had to go to the center to score with his left foot. The leg of Atlético’s goals in the final.
Julián Álvarez also scored with his left foot when Atlético was about to despair. The clock marked minute 82 and the rojiblancos couldn’t find a way to break Real’s defense. Until Julián made a maneuver with his right to hide the ball from Gorrotxategithe defender that Matarazzo had brought in for Turrientes to protect his team more. The Real center back was spread out while Julián loaded his left foot to score Atlético’s second.
A great goal that changed the score and the mood. The nerve-eaten nails served as food for his fans in La Cartuja. It was time to give his team the push to reduce suffering and uncertainty. To close with a goal before the 90th that would send them home happy and content. But there was no goal, neither Baena nor Oskarsson took advantage of the opportunities they had, probably both were offside and neither Julián, who hit the post. The punishment was 30 more minutes of suffering. A timed agony that took both teams to the penalty spot. To the point where no one wants to go. “Musso, Musso,” shouted the red and white fans. The one furthest from the goal where the penalties were taken. La Real won the draw to choose the depth, theirs, and lost the one that chooses the order of the pitchers, although Sorloth did not take long to give it to them.
Real won the final that Griezmann dreamed of to say goodbye. His former teams pursue the Frenchman in misfortune. Atlético won the League during his leave from Barcelona. And now Real Sociedad, the team that brought him to Spain, prevents him from saying goodbye with the last national title he could win.
Oyarzabal It also closes a circle. He was not born when the team that started in Arconada and ended in López Ufarte won the Cup in ’87, but he arrived in time to give one to his team in 2021. Now he receives her as captain. So young and already a legend.
Atlético de Madrid and Real Sociedad will meet tonight in the final of the Copa del Rey at the La Cartuja stadium. The colchoneros – spurred by their place in the Champions League semi-finals – They will seek their eleventh win in the twentieth final in their history, while the San Sebastian team aspire to the fourth title in their ninth appearance in the decisive match of the tournament..
It is not the first time that Atlético de Madrid and Real Sociedad face each other in the final of the Copa del Rey. The San Sebastian team faced Atlético de Madrid in 1987 and it was a highly contested match in which Real Sociedad beat Atlético de Madrid in the penalty round at the La Romareda stadium in Zaragoza.
We tell you all the information on the “Fan Zones”, the lineups and the latest news for both teams.