Largely dominated (3-1) at home by Villarreal in the league last weekend, Real Sociedad fell again at home (1-1, 4-5 tab), this time against Mallorca (16th in Liga), in semi-final of the Copa del Rey.
Mallorca achieved the feat on Tuesday at Anoeta and qualified for the Copa del Rey final by eliminating Real Sociedad on penalties (5-4) in the semi-final second leg. Basque captain Mikel Oyarzabal, who made his return after three weeks of absence through injury, was the unfortunate hero of the evening, missing his penalty after equalizing a few minutes after coming into play (71st, 1-1). With a defeated face in the mixed zone, Oyarzabal promised that he would not shy away if the opportunity to take a penalty against PSG presented itself next Tuesday (9 p.m.), in the round of 16 second leg of the Champions League.
Fourth loss in five matches
Mallorca opened the scoring with Gio Gonzalez’s header (50th), while Brais Mendez missed a penalty just before half-time (46th). The Balearic club, which will play the fourth Cup final in its history, will face the winner of the other semi-final between Athletic Bilbao and Atlético Madrid on Thursday.
This is the fourth defeat in the last five matches in all competitions for Real Sociedad, which continues to worry before its round of 16 second leg of C1 against PSG on March 5.
“You can imagine the pain… Mallorca were better and we have to thank the fans for holding on until the end. We can ask the players to be more realistic, but they leave everything on the pitch,” said Imanol Alguacil, Real Sociedad coach, after the match. For my part, I have to thank the players and the fans. It’s difficult to digest, but I hope that in the future we can celebrate evenings like this. It is time to overcome this ordeal. The night will be very long for us.