The Basques beat the Blaugrana 4-2 in extra time, while the La Liga leaders fall to Mallorca 3-2 and miss the top four
Only the winner of Atletico Madrid-Sevilla (on the pitch on Thursday evening) is missing to define the complete picture of the semi-finalists of King’s Cup: after Real Sociedad, we addAthletic Bilbaowhich eliminates the Barcelona in extra time thanks to goals from Inaki (just returned from the Africa Cup of Nations) and Nico Williams; and the Majorcaa surprise 3-2 winner over Girona thanks to Prats’ brace. The draws are on Friday.
ATHLETIC CLUB-BARCELLONA 4-2 dts
Shocking start for the Blaugrana, who went behind after 36 seconds with Guruzeta’s goal, who did well to finish off a one-two punch in the penalty area. The visitor’s reaction came from Lewandowski in the 26th minute with a goal from a pure rebound in the penalty area, while six minutes later Lamine Yamal turned the match around with a nice personal move, finished with a precise left-footed shot from the edge of the area. The start of the second half offered another goal for the home team, this time scored by Sancet with a precise header following Nico Williams’ invitation. The Basques put Barcelona on the ropes, dragged by the Spanish national team’s winger, but in the final the great chance comes to Yamal, who steals the ball from Paredes, jumps the goalkeeper and shoots incredibly high. In extra time, Athletic progressed thanks to Inaki Williams, who just returned from the Africa Cup of Nations effectively gave the Basques qualification in the 106th minute with a tap that came after a post hit by himself at the end of an offensive transition. The Ghanaian was then also denied the poker, but his brother took care of fixing him in the 120th minute with a pearl from the right wing that slipped into the top corner and definitively closed the quarter-final, getting Xavi into trouble.
MAIORCA-GIRONA 3-2
The visiting team fell behind after twenty minutes, when the Canadian Larin placed a left-footed shot into the net at the invitation of Dani Rodriguez. At this point Abdón Prats goes wild, doubling the lead in the 28th minute with a great left-footed shot from distance and in the 35th minute making it 3-0 on a penalty kick. In the 67th minute Raillo causes a penalty in favor of the Catalans and gets sent off for protests, Stuani scores and reopens the match. Savio makes it 3-2 in the 96th minute and Torre comes close to making a sensational comeback three minutes later with a shot from just outside the edge that seals the Mallorca qualification: the La Liga leaders are out of the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey.