Real Madrid looked like certain winners in the cup semi-final for a long time before the game took a crazy turn in the final phase. Real Sociedad forced extra time late on, in which Antonio Rüdiger headed the 4-4 to take the Whites to the Copa del Rey final after all.
With a 1-0 first-leg lead in San Sebastian, Real Madrid had taken the first step towards the Copa del Rey final, and the Whites wanted to seal their place in the final at home in Santiago Bernabeu. Real coach Carlo Ancelotti gave Mbappé a break, with Endrick starting in center forward for the match-winner in the 3-2 win over Leganes. Alaba also benefited from the greater rotation, defending instead of Rüdiger.
Endrick fails spectacularly – Barrenetxea tunnels Lunin
Against Real Sociedad, who have only won one of their last seven games, the Whites almost took an early and spectacular lead, but Endrick’s bicycle kick went wide (8′). Shortly afterwards, Alex Remiro made a fine save to prevent Vini Jr. from scoring. It was a spirited start from the home side.
And yet the goal fell on the opposite side: Barrenetxea benefited from a positioning error by Vazquez and went in front (16). The aggregate score was now level again.
Endrick scores for Brazil
Real responded with vicious attacks and looked to equalize quickly. Bellingham shot just wide from a tight angle in the 20th minute, but the half-chances were few and far between. Until Vini Jr. levered the entire visiting defense with a outside-of-the-foot pass and perfectly set up Endrick, who then casually lobbed keeper Alex Remiro to make it 1-1 (30′).
After that, the Royal had everything under control against the Basques, who tried hard but were harmless, and could have scored more goals if they had played more consistently. It remained that way after the break, although the game increasingly fizzled out. But Madrid had the only chances: Alex Remiro was on the line against Valverde’s direct corner (46th), shortly afterwards Bellingham failed to put the ball in the net from close range (49th) and later on he was stopped by the Basque keeper (61st).
Wild back and forth: Four goals from minute 80
The royals had not managed to make the final decision. And that should pay off: a chance from Zubimendi, which Lunin defused with a brilliant save (70th), brought the Basques back into the game. Marin provoked an own goal from Alaba (72) with a solo parallel to the baseline, putting the game back on course for extra time. And that wasn’t enough: a shot from Oyarzabal deflected off Alaba and into the Real Sociedad net (80) – putting Real Sociedad in the lead for the first time in the aggregate.
However, it was only the prelude to a wild final quarter of an hour: Two minutes after conceding a third goal, Bellingham scored with an assist from Vini Jr. to make it 2-3 and prevent Real being knocked out immediately (82′). And after Vini Jr. was stopped in a one-on-one situation by keeper Alex Remiro, Tchouameni headed the corner that followed powerfully into the net to equalize (86′). But the visitors had an answer at the ready again: Oyarzabal headed the Basques back into the lead in injury time (90+3). Remiro finally kept extra time out with a huge reflex save against Bellingam (90+5).
Finale gegen Atletico oder Barcelona
In the second half, things calmed down again, with both sides slowly feeling the effects of fatigue. Only the Whites had chances in the first 15 minutes, but Vini Jr. (93′, wide) and substitute Mbappé (105′, under pressure) failed to take them.
The decision was made in the 115th minute: substitute Arda Güler served a corner to the head of substitute Rüdigers, who skillfully scored against his direction of play to make it 4-4. It was actually the final point in a wild game, Real Madrid were still able to celebrate reaching the final.
There, the Whites will face either their city rivals Atletico or arch-rivals FC Barcelona – the first leg between the two ended in a 4-4 draw, with the second leg now taking place on Wednesday in Madrid.
