Athletic Club 1-0 Real Madrid: Los Blancos Knocked Out From Copa del Rey
Athletic Club scored a last-gasp goal to send Real Madrid out of the Copa del Rey at San Mames on Thursday night.
During the first period, Real sat back and took it easy. The hosts’ high pressure and energetic attacking play made the game a little hectic at times, but they missed a lot of chances.
In the first ten minutes, Dani Garcia had a long-range strike palmed away by Thibaut Courtois. Then, he had a low shot blocked by Nacho.
Later on, Iker Muniain got through two defenders and found his way near the byline. He was able to shoot into the side of the goal, but it was from a tight angle.
The match became more and more scrappy and stretched out as the game went on, and the second half was no different.
Before Casemiro’s goal with nine minutes to go, Raul Garcia’s header was deflected just wide of the goal. There were no clear-cut chances until then.
Athletic won a game out of nothing, but Real Madrid played a role in giving it to them. Neither Luka Modric nor Casemiro made simple clearances in the last minute of normal time, and the ball went to Alex Berenguer, who was on the bench.
In the dying seconds of the game, the winger did an amazing job of cutting inside Nacho and then unleashing a left-footed shot that went across Courtois and into the bottom corner from just inside the box. The goal lifted the lid on the San Mames and knocked Real out.
Another quarter-final took place last night. Athletic’s Basque rivals Real Sociedad were thrashed 4-0 at home by Real Betis, who were very good.
Here are how Los Blancos players ranked each other.
At Quality Sport Images, Eder Militao is making one of many good moves.
Read an early ball over the top very well. Thibaut Courtois (GK) got 6/10. A good move to stop Garcia right after that. Berenguer’s shot went right by him.
6/10 Is not a right-back, but not many people have tried to play him on his left side.
Eder Militao (CB) – 8/10 – He made a brilliant, goal-saving tackle right after the half-hour mark. A rock all the way through, on the ground and in the air.
Nacho (CB) got a 6/10. He was also pretty solid, but a little less impressive when he was defending. During the race, Berenguer did a great job and left him for dead.
David Alaba (LB): 6/10 – It was hard for him to get involved as an attacking full-back, but he was strong in defense and kept his passes clean.
Casemiro made a big mistake at the last minute / Soccrates Images
/GettyImages
Casemiro (DM) – 6/10 – He was very steady and won a lot of fights, but he lost the ball a lot in the build-up to the decisive goal.
CM Luka Modric tried to get on the ball, but he didn’t have the same effect as he usually does. He got a 5/10. During the build-up to the goal, Casemiro should have cleared the ball away, but he somehow fell.
Toni Kroos (CM) got a 5/10. Booked early for a trip that was going to be a little cynical. He threw the ball around like he usually does, but it didn’t have the same effect as before. Subbed.
Because Vinicius wasn’t at his best, he looked bad.
Rodrygo (RW) got a score of 5 out of 10. Barely at all, in fact. One shot hit the target and I won a few fights. After a long trip and a trip to another country, he looked tired.
It was 5/10 for Marco Asensio (ST) Probably not a forward. Huffed and puffed, but it was hard to get involved or make anything.
It was 4/10 for Vinicius Jr. (LW) Only came back from Brazil duty at 3pm on Wednesday. At times, he played like he was jet-lagged. When he had a chance to score early on, he didn’t take it. It was a good idea to start a running fight with Garcia, who was very angry. Subbed.
Eduardo Camavinga (CM) has a score of five out of 10
In the end, Isco (LW) got a score of 5/10 because he didn’t get a last-minute goal.
