Athletic Bilbao beat Atletico to reach Copa del Rey final
Athletic Bilbao last won the Copa del Rey in 1984 and have lost in the final on six occasions since thenAthletic Bilbao comfortably beat Atletico Madrid to set up a Copa del Rey final against Mallorca on 6 April.
Athletic doubled their advantage after 13 minutes of the home second leg when Nico Williams set up Inaki Williams.
The pair combined again for the second goal, with Nico Williams scoring just before half-time, and Gorka Guruzeta scored to seal the 4-0 aggregate win.
The second leg took place in front of 52,061 at San Mames, the highest attendance in Athletic’s history.
The restart after half-time was delayed because of a medical emergency in the stands.
In a post on X,external-link Athletic wrote: “A person was asphyxiating and, thanks to the medical services, was stabilised and taken to hospital.”
The final will be played at the Estadio La Cartuja in Seville with the winners qualifying for the Europa League group stage for 2024-25.
Mallorca won the Copa del Rey in 2003 after losing in the final in both 1991 and 1998 and reached this year’s showpiece with a 5penalty shootout win over Real Sociedad after it finished 1-1 on aggregate following the second leg.
Mallorca are 16th in La Liga and only six points above the relegation zone, while Athletic are fifth, one place behind Atletico in fourth.
Athletic, who have won the Copa del Rey on 23 occasions, defeated Barcelona 4-2 in the quarter-finals after Atletico had beaten Real Madrid by the same score a round earlier.
Line-upsAth BilbaoFormation 4-2-3-1
13Agirrezabala18De MarcosBooked at 74minsSubstituted forĂlvarezat 89’minutes3Vivian4Paredes15LekueBooked at 66mins16RuĂz de GalarretaBooked at 40minsSubstituted forGarcĂa Carrilloat 68’minutes24Prados9WilliamsSubstituted forBerenguerat 80’minutes8SancetSubstituted forGĂłmezat 80’minutes11Nico Williams12GuruzetaSubstituted forGarcĂaat 89’minutesSubstitutes1SimĂłn5Ălvarez6Vesga7Berenguer10Muniain14GarcĂa Carrillo19GarcĂa de AlbĂ©niz20Villalibre22GarcĂa23Ares DjalĂł30GĂłmezAtl MadridFormation 5-3-2
13Oblak16MolinaSubstituted forBarriosat 54’minutes15Savic20Witsel22HermosoBooked at 28minsSubstituted forIsnard Mandavaat 53’minutes12Dias LinoSubstituted forRiquelmeat 72’minutes5De Paul6KokeSubstituted forSaĂșlat 65’minutes14Llorente19Morata10CorreaSubstituted forDepayat 54’minutesSubstitutes1Moldovan4Gabriel8SaĂșl9Depay17Riquelme18Vermeeren23Isnard Mandava24Barrios30El Jebari31GomisReferee:Juan MartĂnez Munuera
Attendance:52,061
Match Stats
