At 4:30 a.m. Beijing time on February 4, the 1/4 final of the 21/22 Spanish King's Cup, Real Madrid challenged Athletic Bilbao away. Throughout the game, Real Madrid was besieged by the opponent until the 89th minute, When Berenguer sealed his throat. Real Madrid fell 0-1 and missed the Copa del Rey final for eight consecutive years.
It was the fourth meeting between the two sides this season, after three previous wins for Real Madrid, including a two-legged double in the league and a 2-0 win in the Western Super Cup final. In this campaign, Benzema was absent due to injury, Asensio took the center position, and four Brazilian internationals, Vinicius, Rodrigo, Casemiro and Militão, appeared collectively, which showed how much Ancelotti attached to this match.
However, Real Madrid has been unable to enter the form, and Athletic Bilbao has repeatedly created threats, and Courtois has become the busiest person on the field. In the first half, Real Madrid had 60% possession, the number of shots was 3-10 and fell behind, and the two sides played 0-0!
Ancelotti could not sit still and replaced Isco and Carmavinga on the pitch, hoping to add to the team's vitality. However, Real Madrid still failed to create a decent attack and was pressed by Athletic Bilbao. As the minutes and seconds passed, the pressure on the Real Madrid defensive end increased.
In the 81st minute, Casemiro scored into the penalty area and a powerful shot was saved by Aguire Zavala. In the 89th minute, Casemiro made a mistake at the back, Athletic Bilbao broke the ball on the spot and played counter-attack, Raul Garcia did the ball, And berenguer shook the angle inside the penalty area and hit the far corner with his left foot. This time, Courtois had no choice.
In the rest of the game, Real Madrid counterattacked without success, and could only accept the embarrassment of a 0-1 exit. Real Madrid have not won two consecutive games and have been met with regent revenge from Athletic Bilbao, missing out on the final four of this Copa del Rey. The final whistle blew, Athletic Bilbao gathered around the whole team to party, and the Real Madrid players left the field in blackface.
You know, the first time the Real Madrid won the Copa del Rey was in the 13/14 season, exactly 8 years ago. Since then, neither Zidane nor Ancelotti has been able to taste the Copa del Rey again. Athletic Bilbao showed the killer nature of a strong team, kicking Real Madrid and Barcelona out in succession!
With Real Madrid out, all four of this season's Copa del Rey were produced, with Valencia, Vallecano, Athletic Bilbao and Real Betis successfully advancing. Surprisingly, the three top tropes of Real Madrid, Barca and Atletico have all fallen.
However, a Copa del Rey may not be all bad for Real Madrid, and they can focus on La Liga. After all, Real Madrid are only four points ahead of Sevilla now, and the prospect of winning the title is still not very stable. The absence of the Copa del Rey means that Real Madrid can save a lot of energy and go all out to attack the 35th La Liga title.
It is worth mentioning that Ancelotti has won the Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 titles, and is still close to completing the feat of the five major league Grand Slams in La Liga.