2020 Copa del Rey Final

2020 Copa del Rey Final

Athletic Bilbao Real Sociedad 0 1
Report
Event	2019–20 Copa del Rey
Date	4 April 2021
Venue	Estadio de La Cartuja, Seville
Player of the Match	Mikel Merino (Real Sociedad)
Referee	Xavier Estrada Fernández (Catalonia)
Attendance	0
← 2019 2021 →

The 2020 Copa del Rey Final was a football match that decided the winner of the 2019–20 Copa del Rey, the 118th edition of Spain's primary football cup (including two seasons where two rival editions were played). The match was played at the Estadio de La Cartuja in Seville between Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad, the first Basque derby final.

Originally scheduled for 18 April 2020, the match was postponed with the agreement of the participating clubs on 11 March (with no new date decided at that point) due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which had led to football matches being cancelled or played behind closed doors as a measure to prevent the spread of the virus, in the hope that the delay would provide time to contain the outbreak and allow the final to take place with a full stadium as in normal circumstances. The final will be played on 4 April 2021.

Real Sociedad won the final 1–0 thanks to a second-half penalty converted by Mikel Oyarzabal, achieving their third overall Copa del Rey title and first since 1987, ending a 34-year trophy drought.

Background

Real Sociedad are competing in their eighth Copa del Rey final, having lost the 1988 final to Barcelona. Athletic Bilbao are competing in their 38th final, having lost to Barcelona in 2015. In reaching the final, both teams were assured qualification for the four-team 2020–21 Supercopa de España.

In the 1910 Copa del Rey (which had two rival tournaments running in parallel), the two clubs participated in the three-team group of the UECF competition along with Madrid FC. The decisive match was between the Basque teams (Athletic winning 1–0), but as it was not a final in the traditional knockout format and the newly-formed Real Sociedad were playing under the name 'Vasconia' for licensing reasons, it is not widely recognised as an equivalent to their meeting 110 years later.

350-day delay

Around the time of the original date for the final, the Spanish football federation (RFEF) had indicated they would grant the designated Europa League group stage berth, typically given to the winners of the tournament, to Athletic Bilbao (10th position in La Liga at the time of its suspension with eleven rounds remaining) should the match not be played within the period of 2019–20, as Real Sociedad (4th place) seemed likely to qualify for at least the Europa League and possibly the Champions League via their league position. However, on 30 April, UEFA stated that the final must be played by 3 August to activate the designated qualification place, otherwise this would revert to the team finishing seventh in La Liga (either with the fixtures completed or the standings declared). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it would be very unlikely that any final played by then would allow spectators into the stadium, a factor both clubs had declared was essential when it was initially postponed. Athletic submitted a formal protest against UEFA's instruction, and on 4 May both teams officially reiterated their stance to delay the match until such a time as supporters would be able to attend it.

When the league resumed in June 2020, the form of both clubs was poor: Athletic Bilbao collected 14 points from 33 available, while Real Sociedad gained only 10 points and slipped down the table; however, five of those came in the last three matchdays, including one from an 88th-minute equaliser against Atlético Madrid on the final day to keep them just above Granada and Getafe – they finished sixth and qualified for the Europa League group stage, the same status as would have been afforded the Copa winner. Athletic's challenge had already fallen short and they placed eleventh.

Route to the final

For more details on this topic, see 2019–20 Copa del Rey.

Real Sociedad		Round	Athletic Bilbao
Opponent	Result		Opponent	Result
Becerril	8–0 (A)	First round	Intercity	3–0 (A)
Ceuta	4–0 (A)	Second round	Sestao River	4–0 (A)
Espanyol	2–0 (H)	Round of 32	Elche	1–1 (5–4 p) (A)
Osasuna	3–1 (H)	Round of 16	Tenerife	3–3 (4–2 p) (A)
Real Madrid	4–3 (A)	Quarter-finals	Barcelona	1–0 (H)
Mirandés	2–1 (H)	Semi-finals	Granada	1–0 (H)
	1–0 (A)			1–2 (A)

Key: (H) = Home; (A) = Away

Match

Details

4 April 2021 (2021-04-04) 21:30 CEST	Real Sociedad	0–1	Athletic Bilbao	Estadio de La Cartuja Attendance: 0 Referee: Xavier Estrada Fernández (Catalonia)
		Report	Oyarzabal  63' (pen.)

Athletic Bilbao

Real Sociedad

GK 1 Unai Simón RB 18 Óscar de Marcos CB 5 Yeray Álvarez CB 4 Iñigo Martínez 62' LB 17 Yuri Berchiche 90+3' RM 12 Álex Berenguer 76' CM 14 Dani García 35' 76' CM 27 Unai Vencedor 68' LM 10 Iker Muniain (c) CF 9 Iñaki Williams CF 22 Raúl García Substitutes: GK 13 Jokin Ezkieta DF 3 Unai Núñez DF 15 Iñigo Lekue DF 21 Ander Capa 90+3' DF 24 Mikel Balenziaga MF 6 Mikel Vesga 76' MF 8 Unai López 68' FW 7 Ibai Gómez FW 20 Asier Villalibre 76' Manager: Marcelino

GK 1 Álex Remiro RB 18 Andoni Gorosabel 90+3' CB 5 Igor Zubeldia CB 24 Robin Le Normand LB 20 Nacho Monreal DM 36 Martín Zubimendi CM 21 David Silva 85' CM 8 Mikel Merino 71' RF 7 Portu 89' CF 19 Alexander Isak 89' LF 10 Mikel Oyarzabal (c) Substitutes: GK 34 Gaizka Ayesa DF 6 Aritz Elustondo 90+3' DF 12 Aihen Muñoz DF 15 Modibo Sagnan MF 11 Adnan Januzaj MF 16 Ander Guevara 85' FW 9 Carlos Fernández 89' FW 22 Ander Barrenetxea 89' FW 25 Jon Bautista Manager: Imanol Alguacil

Man of the Match: Mikel Merino (Real Sociedad) Assistant referees: Roberto Alonso Fernández (Community of Madrid) Guadalupe Porras Ayuso (Extremadura) Fourth official: José Luis Munuera Montero (Andalusia) Reserve assistant referee: Iñigo Prieto López de Cerain (Navarre) Video assistant referee: Ignacio Iglesias Villanueva (Galicia) Assistant video assistant referee: José Luis González González (Castile and León)

Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Nine named substitutes. Maximum of five substitutions, with a sixth allowed in extra time.