Athletic Bilbao snatched the pass to the semi-finals of the King's Cup, with a fatal victory over its guest, Real Madrid, 1-0, Thursday evening, in the quarter-finals.
Alex Behring scored the only goal of the match for Athletic Bilbao in the 89th minute.
Bilbao had also overthrown Barcelona, Real Madrid's traditional rival, in the final price round, to continue his path in the tournament, which he reached the final of last season, before losing to Barcelona.
Bilbao completed the contract for the semi-finalists of the tournament, after the teams of Valencia, Rayo Vallecano and Real Betis qualified for the semi-finals.
🏆 𝗦𝗘𝗠𝗜-𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗦#AthleticRealMadrid #AthleticClub 🦁 pic.twitter.com/s9h5VkRp2G
— Athletic Club (@Athletic_en) February 3, 2022
Bilbao entered the match in an offensive manner from the beginning, relying on the duo Inaki Williams and his colleague Raul Garcia, while Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid coach, relied on a young attacking trio led by Brazilian Vinicius Junior, along with Marco Asensio and Brazilian Rodrigo.
Despite the multiple offensive solutions for both teams, the dangerous opportunities were not present during most of the first half, and Courtois starred in blocking some opportunities from Bilbao captain Iker Muniain, who posed a threat to the royal team's goal.
In the second half, Athletic Bilbao reinforced its attacks against Courtois, and Garcia threatened the Belgian goalkeeper's goal on more than one occasion.
🏆 We've done it again!!
_A_T.. M-A_NCHA REAL
FC BA_RCELONA
REAL MADRID#AthleticcomRealMadrid.AE.🦁FRpic.
— Athletic Club (@Athletic_en) February 3, 2022
On the other hand, Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper Julen Ajiroywabala shone, and prevented more than one dangerous opportunity from his goal by Casemiro, Modric and Vinicius in the second half.
In the 89th minute, while the match was heading to its end, Alex Behring scored the winning goal for Athletic Bilbao, after penetrating from the left front of the Real's defense, to evade the defender and hit the far corner of Courtois' goal, scoring the game's only goal that gave his team the pass to the next round.