It hit hard. Athletic Club dand Bilbao defeated Atlético de Madrid 1-0 at the Metropolitano, in the first leg semi-final of the Copa del Rey of Spain 2023/24, and will define the series as a local one. The other duel is carried out by Mallorca y Real society.
Berenguer, from a penalty kick, scored for Athletic Bilbao on the visit to Atlético de Madrid. Getty Images
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The front Álex Berenguer, 25 minutes into the first half, scored the winning goal from a penalty of Athletic, directed by Ernesto Valverde.
And there was a hot ending, since Rodrigo De Paul grabbed Yuri Berchiche at the end of the match. The Argentine midfielder argued with the Athletic Bilbao player and they had to be separated.
The rematch between Diego Simeone’s team and the Basque team will be on Thursday the 29th of this month in San Mamés. And the final of the competition will be held at the La Cartuja stadium, in Seville, on Saturday, April 6.
Atlético de Madrid, winner of the Copa del Rey 10 times, the last in 2012, has just eliminated Lugo, Real Madrid and Sevilla, while Athletic, the second club with the most titles in said competition (23), but which did not achieved since 1984, left out Eibar, Alavés and Barcelona.
Great merit for both of them for having surpassed the two greats of Spain: Atlético by beating its archrival from the capital, with 20 cups in this tournament, and the Bilbao team, which took out Barca, the top champion of the Copa del Rey, with 31 titles.
Atlético and Athletic met again in this cup tournament 10 years after they last met in the quarterfinals of the 2013-14 edition. The Madrid team advanced there after winning 1-0 at the Vicente Calderón and 1-2 at San Mamés.
This season they met on December 16 in San Mamés, on date No. 17 of LaLiga, with a 2-0 victory for Ernesto Valverde’s team. The Argentine coach only lost once against Valverde’s Athletic in 13 duels, of which he won 10. That almost two months ago was the only Blbaíno victory against Altético with Simeone on the bench.