LATEST: Unai Marrero dresses as a hero in the penalty shootout and Real Sociedad is proclaimed Cup champion after beating Atlético
In a major development, the following story has emerged from the international scene.
The Royal Society showed up at La Cartuja like a wolf in sheep’s clothing and left with a title under its arm. He did it in the penalty shootout, sending Atlético de Madrid to the canvas, now forced to play all the cards of the season in the Champions League. [Narración y estadísticas de la final]
The San Sebastian club deserved such a title, having spent five years blank since the 2021 Cup wrapped in a soulless atmosphere as it was played with hardly any fans. This time, 30,000 San Sebastian souls accompanied the Matarazzo team, the main architect of the royalist resurrection in 2026, to celebrate their team’s fourth Copa del Rey. They were never behind on the scoreboard. It took them 14 seconds to kick off the game and left Atlético reeling on the brink of half-time with a goal from Oyarzabal. Julián’s equalizer in the 82nd minute hit them like a bucket of cold water, but they held out in extra time and wrote a new page in the club’s history from the penalty spot. They did it with the help of two youth players: Unai Marrero and Pablo Marín. Two boys from Zubieta who ended up touching the sky with Real Sociedad. The first stopping the first two penalties of the shootout (to Sorloth and Julián Álvarez); the second assuming the responsibility of launching the fifth and final of his own. Atlético left Seville empty. Always in tow and saved by the bell due to the genius of Julián. He even had the title in his hand before extra time, but he forgave too much and ended up paying for it. Simeone’s men missed their first two penalties, a slab that was impossible to lift and that ended up depriving them of winning the cup trophy 13 years later. Two blows If Matarazzo and Simeone had captured a tactical battle on their boards, the chessboard of the Copa del Rey final turned 180 degrees in just 14 seconds. That was how long it took for Real Sociedad to make the first move thanks to Barrenetxea who headed home a measured cross from Guedes. It was a concatenation of errors by Atlético. Three shots to the foot in the first action of the clash that forced the red and whites to go against the flow throughout the match. Marrero played long, Nahuel made a mistake when colliding with Oyarzabal and Simeone did the same when trying to head clear a ball that ended up going over him. Guedes controlled, raised his head and brought it to the penalty spot. Ruggeri waited there for the closing, but the Italian remained petrified, following Barrenetxea’s foreshortening with his gaze to connect the leather with the head. A header with little power, but tight enough to make Musso’s stretch impossible. The Argentine goalkeeper, crucial in the Champions League tie against Barça, ended up being a sea of doubts in La Cartuja. This would be reflected in the last action of the first part. However, minutes before, in the 19th minute, Lookman equalized the contest. Julián drove, opened for Griezmann and the Frenchman stopped at the top of the area before giving it to Lookman on the front line. The Nigerian, after a control, took a low cross shot out of his sleeve that slipped into the back of the goal defended by Marrero. Lookman was the real headache for Simeone’s team in the first 45 minutes. The entire Colchonero game was focused on the left profile and the best chances came from his boots. On the other side, also on the left wing, it was Guedes who made the difference. He assisted on the first goal and had an impact on his team’s second of the night by forcing a penalty in the 43rd minute. Soler took a lateral foul and Guedes was ahead of Musso’s poor start and was run over by the red and white goalkeeper when he tried to punch a clearance. There was no discussion, Oyarzabal assumed responsibility and did not hesitate to hit the table and put the San Sebastian team ahead again. He fired to his left, completely fooling Musso. The Julián moment Atlético de Madrid had to increase the pace but, far from being a harassment and demolition in the form of occasions, Simeone’s team had difficulties in putting Marrero in trouble after passing through the locker room. Llorente let loose in attack, Cholo brought on Baena, Nico, Sorloth and Almada, but it ended up being Julián who caused delirium in the red-and-white parish. It couldn’t be anyone else. It was the 83rd minute and Matarazzo had sent out his best men in search of maintaining the result. It came out tails and a genius from the Argentine equalized the balance again. Llorente picked up a very passed cross, gave it to Almada and he gave it to his compatriot who was waiting on the line of the area. ‘The Spider’ escaped his mark with masterful control and took an unappealable whip with his left leg that sneaked close to the Real squad. Marrero, with his feet stuck on the grass, could only watch as the final was tied again. Atlético grew with the goal. Real Sociedad fell apart like a sugar cube after the hard blow. And Simeone’s men were close to turning the score around before extra time. First with a resounding failure by Baena (an action that could have been reviewed by the VAR) and then with a one-on-one by Cardoso against Marrero in the 91st minute. Sudden death Attrition took its toll on both teams during extra time and the Cup champion ended up being decided from the penalty spot. There the figure of Unai Marrero appeared. The San Sebastian youth player saved Atlético’s first two penalties against Sorloth and Julián, leaving a lot of room for his team. It didn’t matter that Oskarsson missed the txuri-urdin’s second. In fact, the Icelander’s was the only mistake made by the Royal Society. Sucic scored, Ahien Muñoz did the same and Pablo Marín, another youth player, was in charge of giving the club of his life its fourth Copa del Rey. A dramatic penalty shootout that ended with a realistic title five years later and that extended the red and white drought to 13 years without being Cup champions. Simeone’s men have the Champions League bullet left to save a season that looked historic. And the course of Real will go down in history. A team that plummeted during the first months of the course and found its savior in Matarazzo. The American made a team that is already appearing in the European positions play like angels and will close the season with a trophy under its arm.
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Source: This article was originally published in another language by El Español – Home and has been translated and adapted for our global English-speaking audience. Read the original article here.