Copa del Rey – Real Madrid surprised at the end of the match by Bilbao and eliminated from the Copa del Rey

After Barca, Real. Eleven days after eliminating Barcelona in the round of 16 of the King’s Cup, Athletic Club offered the scalp of the leader of La Liga in the quarters, Thursday evening, in a San Mamés in fusion. The Basque club, dominating for a good part of the meeting, waited until the 89th minute to make the difference thanks to Alex Berenguer. Deprived of Karim Benzema, injured, the formation of Carlo Ancelotti worried in the content, twelve days before his round of 16 first leg of the Champions League against PSG.

So there won’t be a domestic treble for Real Madrid this season. Leaders of the championship and winners of the Spanish Super Cup against… Bilbao in mid-January, the Merengues were probably considering nothing more than a ticket to the last four of the King’s Cup before Thursday evening. But the Basque club recalled that it was cut out for cleaver matches. And that he liked to annoy the powerful of Spanish football.

Real under pressure, Berenguer’s winning entry

Marcelino’s team entered their match very strongly, taking their opponent by the throat for a good half hour. But the two attempts of Dani Garcia (9th, 13th) found Thibaut Courtois in their path while Iker Muniain found the small outside net (23rd). Then it was on returning from the locker room that the locals again pressed the accelerator, the heads of Inigo Martinez and Raul Garcia missing the target by a few centimeters (47th, 50th).

It was finally at the end of the match that Real seemed to control a little better than Bilbao struck. After a rough ball loss from Casemiro, Alex Berenguer erased Nacho Fernandez with a right hook before wrapping a left shot into the opposite side netting (1-0, 89th). A winning entry for the one who had replaced the excellent Nico Williams at the break, hit behind the right thigh.

Vinicius had not recovered

Terrible but not undeserved for Real, overwhelmed by the intensity of this meeting. Without Karim Benzema, who has not yet recovered from his injury against Elche on January 23, nor Ferland Mendy, the Madrid team has not found the key to play and hurt. Vinicius Junior, out of breath from his twice one hour game with Brazil and the plane trip that followed, did not exist. Entering in his place, Isco appeared very borrowed. Only Casemiro sent a real thrill on the goal of Julen Agirrezabala (83rd), but he molested his shot from the right. An evening to forget for Real, who will face Granada and Villarreal before Act I of the long-awaited clash against Paris on February 15.