Real Madrid and Real Sociedad won't continue on the "Copa del Rey"
This Thursday the remaining two matches of the "Copa del Rey" quarterfinals were played. The first of them took place in San Mamés, where Athletic Bilbao received Real Madrid in a match where the 'lions' dominated from start to finish and the 'merengues' only had about three chances in the 90 regulation minutes.
The Williams brothers dangerously arrived at the area defended by Courtois. Raúl García and Muniain directed the attack of the locals and the aerial game always affected the white defense.
Meanwhile, Madrid could not make two or three passes in a row and Ancelotti's strategy of leaving Vinicius and Rodrygo as wingers and Asensio as a false '9' apparently did not work.
Nico Williams was broken in an Athletic counterattack at the end of the first half and everything indicated that for the second, Real Madrid was going to take advantage of that absence to turn to the attack, but the reality is that those led by Ancelotti continued to give the ball to those at home
The entry of Camavinga would give freshness to the team and some occasions would come, a triangulation between Lucas Vásquez, Modric and Asensio that would end in a one-on-one between Casemiro and the Bilbao goalkeeper, which the Brazilian would end up sending into the hands of Agirrezabala.
The other clear one for the Whites was a long pass that would leave Isco with space, but the Malaga-born striker sent the shot outbounds.
Athletic's long-awaited goal would come through Berenguer at 89', when he received a pass over the edge of the area and, dribbling past a defender, crossed it to the goalkeeper with a left-footed shot that would send it into the back of the net. Final 1-0 and Real Madrid is out of the "Copa del Rey".
An extraordinary Betis thrashes Real Sociedad at home
This Thursday the quarterfinal game between Real Sociedad and Betis was also played at the Reale Arena, a match that left a bulky score of 0-4.
The 'verdiblancos' stormed the home of Real and ended up scoring goals in a great game that makes them big favorites to win the coveted Copa del Rey.
In the first half, Juanmi Jiménez would score the first goal of the match at minute 12, after William Carvalho won a ball at speed to the baseline, disputing it with Guevara, but then passed it to the center of the area so that the Spaniard He will finish off creeping to the bottom of the nets.
The first half would give several chances for the locals, such as Januzaj's goal disallowed for Oyarzabal's offside. With that score the first half would end, but Juanmi himself at 57' would score in a manner similar to the first goal.
The play was a pass that appealed to the speed of Álex Moreno, who reached the bottom line on the left and passed the ball to the center of the area so that Juanmi, this time left-footed, scored the second.
A few minutes to go, a Betis attack from the right of the area ends in a cross, whose shot by the attacker hits Zaldua's hand. The referee whistles the maximum penalty after consulting the VAR and Willian José scores in the 83rd minute.
Four minutes later, Aitor Ruibal sentenced the game with the final 0-4, receiving a pass that appealed to his speed, winning backs and going hand in hand with the goalkeeper and thus ending up scoring the last goal of the match. Great performance by the ensemble directed by Manuel Pellegrini!
In this way, Betis and Athletic Bilbao qualify for the next round, along with Valencia and Rayo Vallecano. This Friday the clashes for the semifinals of the "Copa del Rey" will be made that will be played in two legs, the first leg on February 9th and the second leg on March 3rd.