Valencia (Spain) (AFP)
Bilbao in the final!
The Basque club snatched their ticket for the Spanish Cup final on the lawn of Levante 2-1 on Thursday after extra time after a 1-1 draw in the first leg, the day after Barcelona's comeback against Sevilla in the another semi-final.
Winner of the Spanish Super Cup in January against the Catalans, Bilbao will face Barça again in the final in April ... two weeks after a third final: that of the previous edition of the Copa del Rey, postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this time against Real Sociedad.
Striker Alejandro Berenguer scored the winning goal for the Basques in extra time, with a long shot blocked by Nikola Vuksevic (112th).
Before that, Raul Garcia, from the penalty spot (30th), had allowed Bilbao to equalize (1-1), after the opening of the scoring, with a nice pivot strike from Roger Marti, the home scorer of Levante (17th ).
Bilbao even benefited from a boost from fate when the defender, Yeray Alvarez, wanted to tackle an opposing center and the ball hit the post ... without consequence (43rd)!
In the second half, the two teams struggled to let go, tense by the stakes.
Before Berenguer crucifies Levante!
Big disappointment for the Valencia club who misses the opportunity to reach the Copa del Rey final for the first time in its history.
The Basques, 23 winners of this competition, will live a busy and hopeful month of April.
They have qualified for the final of the previous edition of the Spanish Cup against their rivals Real Sociedad: the meeting, postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, is scheduled for April 3.
Before facing FC Barcelona two weeks later (April 17), holder of the largest number of titles in the competition (30 including 4 since 2015).
This season, Bilbao beat Barça (3-2) in January in a fabulous Spanish Super Cup final.
But the Catalan club had won during their last meeting in the Spanish Cup final (3-1), 6 years ago.
Ball in the center.
© 2021 AFP