Copa del Rey: Athletic 1 – 2 Atlético

Atleti set up a Copa date with fierce rivals

Posted by Derek Maaijen on January 29th, 2014 49 Comments

Next up are eternal foes Real Madrid
(clubatleticodemadrid.com)

Atletico Madrid became the first team to win at the San Mamés on Wednesday night, as goals from Raul Garcia and Diego Costa helped eliminate Athletic Bilbao from the Copa Del Rey.

There were four changes made to the Atletico team that had played at the weekend with Rodríguez, Adrián, Raúl García and Juanfran, who had just returned from suspension, making the starting eleven.

Athletic Bilbao’s impressive placing in the league so far is much owed to their terrific home form having been, prior to this match, unbeaten there all season.

Bilbao were the stronger of the two teams in the first half despite nearly conceding immediately after the kick off. Diego Costa latched onto a lobbed pass from Koke and was left one on one with the goalkeeper but the Spanish national’s shot was denied by Iago’s leg. This was Atleti’s best chance of the first half as Bilbao pushed to level the tie.

It got worse for Atleti as the highly rated left back Filipe Luis overstretched his groin in the 15th minute.

The Argentine, Emiliano Insua replaced the Brasilian who could be out for a while.

Athletic Bilbao dominated the midfield and took advantage of Atletico’s players who were sitting deep in their own half. The tall Basque striker Aduriz caused serious problems for the Atleti defence and on the 26th minute he met a tempting cross from Susaeta but couldn’t find the target.

The pressure became too much to handle and on the 43rd minute Aduriz made no mistake as he headed home a cross from Balenziaga to make it one nil on the night and 1-1 on aggregate. Courtois was kept busy again as he made an outstanding double save which denied Iraola and Aduriz respectively.

Atletico ended the half one nil down and looked shell-shocked. Despite this, they emerged from the break ferociously as a single goal from them would force Bilbao to have to score a further two in order to proceed.

Simeone got exactly the response he wanted from his side as Diego Costa burst down the byline on the 47h minute to set up Adrian whose shot was deflected out for a corner. Costa was at it again as his header was kept out by an acrobatic save from Iago.

The resurgence from Atletico Madrid paid off as Raul Garcia netted a stunning volley on the 54th minute from a freekick which came about after Adrian was brought down by Mikel San Jose. The ball was despatched to Miranda who was unmarked and he flicked it on to Raul Garcia but his first attempt was kept out by Iago. After a scrambled clearance Cristian Rodriguez launched the ball back into the box where Raul Garcia was waiting and this time beat the keeper.

Athletic Bilbao continued to dominate possession but were never as threatening as they were in the first half. This was the case until the 65th minute when Mikel Rico, who was coordinating attacks in the centre of the pitch, was subbed off for Ibai Gomez. Due to this, Atleti began to find more room in midfield but that didn’t stop Ander Herrera from forcing a save out of Courtois with a long range effort. Adrian was replaced by Sosa in the 79th minute which was surprising in the fact that it took so long. The Asturian made little impact on the game and his poor form continues.

Ernesto Valverde further weakened his midfield by replacing Herrera and Susaeta with strikers in the hopes of stealing a winner. Atleti’s defence held firm and on the 86th minute got their reward. Koke regained possession in the middle of the pitch and played a through ball to Costa who had beaten the offside trap, the talisman couldn’t believe his luck as he passed Mikel San Jose and had only the keeper to beat. When he noticed the linesman had not flagged for offside he calmly rounded the keeper and passed the ball into the net, consequently killing the tie and making history as Atletico Madrid became the first team to beat Athletic Bilbao at home.

The win secured Atletico Madrid’s semi-final place as they progressed 3-1 winners on the night. Despite an unconfident first half performance, Los Rojiblancos came back from a goal down to make history. A Madrid derby in the semis can now distract Atletico fans from the injury to Filipe Luis.

Atletico Madrid News 24/7


Athletic	12	Atlético
Aduriz 42'		Raul Garcia 55'
		Diego Costa 86'

	Copa del Rey
	Nuevo San Mamés
	29 January 2014
	20.00 CET

Team Lineups

Iago

Laporte

San Jose

Iraola

Balenziaga

Iturraspe

Susaeta (73')

Rico (66')

Herrera (78')

Muniain

Adruriz

Substitutes used

Kike Sola (73')

Gomez (66')

Benat (78')

Courtois

Godin

Filipe Luis (14')

Miranda

Koke

Raul Garcia

C Rodriguez

Gabi

Diego Costa (91')

Juanfran

Adrian

Substitutes used

Insua (14')

Alderweireld (91')

Sosa (80')

Match Stats

Possession
72	28

Shots
23	9

On Target
8	5

Corners
4	3

Fouls
8	14

Yellow Cards
3	2

Red Cards
0	0

Yon

So gutted about Filipe!! Massssive loss!

Glad Simeone changed it up abit 2nd half!
Urban

Let us wait until tomorrow with medical report on Felipe. Would be a huge blow if the injury is serious.
Will

Filipe left a message on Instagram: http://instagram.com/p/jxREO0iHgz/

“Thank you very much for all your messages of encouragement! I’ll be back really soon. I leave a picture with my friends Juanfran and Diego Costa.”
kris

Filipe is the greatest! FILIPE WE NEED YOU! We need for you to be back really soon so that you can win the Ballon d’Or. Forza Filipe! Okay match in a win, we were totally dominated. Athletic are really great though! Real Madrid, we are not yet thinking of you but beware!!!…..
pantic#10

Animo Filipe!
happy Birthday El Turco. Arda. TURAN. only 27…still many years of success with us 😉
Adnan Khan

Rumours going on about us getting Ever Banega from Valencia on a loan and Angel Correa for 13 million. If true then Both players will fit perfectly in the team.
palestine-atletico

Filipe luis out for 6 weeks at least!! So he will miss 3 madrid derbies and at least one milan clash!
Insua plzzzzzz be in form crucial stage of the season.
Chewie

Fuck, Filipe was so good holding off Bale! He’s smart and tireless and knows how to play against Real. Insua is not too bad, but still isn’t Filipe. I’m sure he’ll be leaving much more free space behind him while attacking, which is super dangerous. Hope Sosa will get in form too – you can see that he’s a good, quick-thinking player by the way he works with the ball. Unlike Raul or Cebolla who make passes to zones where they think their teammate will be, Sosa first evaluates the position and then makes a pass. Maybe I’m being premature, but that’s my impression.

What do you guys think of Cebolla and RG8?

I think CR11 was quite impressive – very, very fast and he could’ve been even more dangerous if Athletic had defended more loosely. RG8 is starting to look more like Diego Costa – just watch him screaming, tackling, pushing, arguing with everyone… and yes – scoring goals. Confidence is written all over his face, that’s a good sign.

I felt a bit worried when we defended so desperately, but then I got it – if we can survive the pressure, if we have the discipline and resources to do it (and we do). then screw entertainment. A win is a win.
piserakos

@chewie…. I agree with you… Cebolla is fast (well that’s his skill) and has a lot of passion, he is a good (and cheap) rotation player… RG8 still isn’t a talented player (he can’t pass, it finds it difficult to dribble) but he scores! I don’t think he can help at winds but on frond he is really good, he can win the ball when it is high and and he can score so i’m ok with that… Yes he looks really confident (Costa doesn’t :P)…. I’m always saying that I don’t like score one and all back to defence, when we played football we scored easilly and that’s a good sign… Damn animo Felipe, he got injured at a really difficult period:(
I like Insua and I believe he will do his job but of course he is not Felipe, no one is! Yesterday it was obvius (still had a great game) that Godin (espatially him) didn’t really trusted and all time I was watching him at the left
starvs

Raul Garcia is a straight up striker. Get him in, around, near, running to/through the box and he is good, else, eh…..
Ty Gambo

I watch football for entertainment reasons, though…
I like seeing the good results, but it’s not a school report.
Winning the title would be great, but I’m not able to watch full games, it won’t be won with me as a true fan.

I love the spirit though, and the fast attacks, so it hasn’t come to the point yet, but who knows…
Hard to keep an ADHDer entertained haha
Ahmad Hossainy

*The last two games in the cup between Atleti & Athletic did not just decide the tie in the quarter finals, but also the tie between the 2 teams in all time head-to-head games
before these two games, every team have won 75 games, and they draw in 32 games in the previous 182 games
now with 77 wins, Los Indios are 2 wins ahead of Los Leones

*It will be only the 4th time Real & Atleti meet in Copa del Rey semifinals,
in the previous 3 occasions, Real won the tie twice (1980,1989), while Atleti won once (1987)

” No AfterMath for the cup ?! No Problem .. I got this Martin 😉 ”

*with 2 serious injuries (Filipe & Oilver), 3 mild injuries (Arda, Tiago, Guilavogui) + Mario who was out for 3 months and will need some time to get his shape back
and with 5 players with one yellow away from suspension in La Liga :
Godin, Tiago, Arda, Koke & Costa (while Filipe, who is already out for the injury is the 6th)
and Koke & Costa are also one yellow away from suspension in the cup (each of them have 2 yellows)
with all of this, we have to play 6 games in February :
2nd: Sociedad, 5th: Real Madrid, 9th: Almeria, 12th: Real Madrid, 15th: Valladolid, 19th: Milan
if there is a time we really need “Partido a Patido” .. it’s now !

but despite all of that, I didn’t hear a single word of complaining from El Cholo
not like others who have benches that worth 200 million, and yet they used to complain if a player from their reserve team got a common cold !!

*It’s a great thing that we play 4 games in one season vs Real Madrid and 4 vs Barcelona,
beside the clash with Milan, which in my opinion, the biggest game for Atleti in UCL since the quarter final vs Ajax 1996-97
And even if we been knocked out from both the cup & UCL, we will still have something to win
2 games vs Real & Milan mean a full Calderon, which means more tickets money, that we could never get if we met -for example- Real Sociedad and Olympiakos .. and you can say the same thing about the TV money form the 4 games against Real & Milan
not to mention getting more and more experience for our players
so, for a growing team like us, it’s a win-win situation

*About Banega, he already played a full season with us (2008-09) and he was great in both La Liga and UCL
but will that mean that Guilavogui is out ?!
and where can he go ?!
he already played for 2 teams this season, Saint-Étienne & Atleti, and -according to FIFA rules- he can not play for a 3rd team in the same season, so his only possible move is to go back to Saint-Étienne, who already asked for him
and this will be a setback and an embarrassment for him
but to be honest, I don’t give a single f*** .. I said before that I refuse making Atleti an experiment laboratory for Jorge Mendes and his Doyen Group .. we are too much bigger than that

I wish Josuha all the good luck,
but if he is at Atleti only to play for 1 or 2 seasons then leave for “a bigger club”, so I wish he leaves now

*I think we have a majority which agree that RG8 is a second striker, and he should never play in any other position

I said my opinion about Cebolla before, he is a player who plays regularly for World Cup 2010 4th team and Copa America 2011 Champions, there is nothing more I can say !

But I can say a lot about Sosa, he is a good surprise
many of you talked about his skills and his style, but I want to talk about his personality
although he has been with us for just a month, he has a leader characters, he plays for the team not for himself, he is not thinking of convincing Simeone to sign him permanently, he is thinking of wining, and just like big players, he didn’t need any time to adapt .. his foot are steady, and his mind is clear

my only problem with him is his so many tattoos,
when I see all these tattoos on anybody, it makes me nauseated and want to puke,
I just can’t handle it .. but I guess I can take one for the team !
Forlan

Ever Banega is coming??
What about Angel Correa, any news about him coming to ATM
Adnan Khan

@Forlan, there is rumours going on as i mentiones earlier. But Atletico is facing a problem with Valencia. We want to loan Banega, but they want to sell him and get some money for reinforcements. Just one day left for this transfer window, honestly i am not expecting any signings, but i hope i am wrong and we get both Correa and Banega. that will relieve the pressure on our starters and Cholo.

And yes Ahmad, i remember that season. Banega played really good. he even earned a place in the argentine squad and summer olympics.
Ahmad Hossainy

As was expected, Racing Santander players refused to play the 2nd leg of the cup vs Real Sociedad and withdrawn because they haven’t get paid for a very long time

That incident reminded me with a similar one, but with different circumstances, and some of Atleti young fans may haven’t heard about it, so I would like to talk about it :
Barcelona withdraw against Atleti in Copa del Rey semifinals 2nd leg the year 2000, at Camp Nou
(the first leg ended 3-0 for Atleti)
and in the 2nd leg, Monday, April 24th, Barca had only 10 available players,
*7 players left to play with their National teams on the next Wednesday :
Rivaldo to play a World Cup Qualifier with Brazil, and 6 Dutchmen to play a friendly vs Scotland
*3 other players were injured
*and the RFEF rules allow only 3 reserve team players to play in the same cup game

Barca asked to postpone the game till May 16th, but Atleti simply responded :
Hell No, we are fighting to avoid relegation (eventually, -as we all know- they couldn’t)

as usual, stupid, badly organised RFEF, not much worse than LFP

But despite that, I believe Barca could have done more
They could have asked the Duch Football Federation (KNVB) to allow the 6 players to arrive a day later, Tuesday instead of Monday, and as it was a friendly, and as Barca was -practically- a Dutch team, with Dutch coach Louis van Gaal, 7 Dutch players and the great legacy of Netherlands legend Johan Cruyff, they would never said no

and even if they said no, great teams don’t escape from fighting,
they play in any circumstances, they play with 10 players, with 9 players and with 8 players

The team who withdraw against Atleti that day had Guardiola, Figo, Simao, Luís Enrique and other big names
while Atleti was a team who is suffering, and at the end of the season, they have been relegated

Nothing new, Classic Barcelona, criers, always complaining, and always have a martyr complex

I just can’t stop thinking, if the first leg ended 0-0 or 1-1 or even 1-0 for Atleti, would they still withdraw ?!
I don’t think so

For more about that incident, here is an article was written two days later by The New York Times sports columnist Christopher Clarey

http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/26/sports/26iht-barca.2.t.html
Vlad

So we’re not buying anyone ha…?
Urban

Diego is probably comming back!!!!!!!!
Sash

Rumour has it that diego ribas is in madrid to sign today!! Vamos!!
Sash

Ninja’d by Urban! However it would be a dream come true 🙂
Kris

AS reports that Diego is coming on loan till the end of the season and with a possibility to play again next season after his contract expires with Wolfsburg. They also said though that this would be to replace Guilavogui who’s going back to Etienne on loan. Either I’m way wrong with my Spanish here or AS is right this time….
Urban

Who wants to chip in to found a monument for Caminero?
piserakos

diego is back!!!!!
piserakos

no kris you are right… Diego is back and there is a huge possibility that he will stay after the summer. Also Guilavogui had a day off and he travels to France, There he will join Saint Etienne
pantic#10

DIEGO IS BACK!
YEAHHHHHHHH
DIEGO IS BACK!

sorry to hear that Josuha will go to St. Etienne for the end of the season..but like i said many times with the comeback of Mario, Josuha is the 4th choice.

Anyway Josuha will be important next year. as Leo.

Great news. about Diego.
Arjit

Joshua is a great player, but he really isn’t needed (loan is a great solution for him). Today is gonna be a great day for us! There are many rumors and they’re all about high quality players, like Diego. Hope they are true. We also bid 13 mill for Correa apparently.
Will

I THINK Simeone does not want more than 23 players in the squad and, considering this, it’s a nice “trade” Guilavogui for Diego Ribas.
As we say in Portuguese, Simeone will have the “good” headache having Koke and Diego Ribas available.
ali_

BIENVENIDO DIEGO!!!
i guess that means we will see koke more and more in CM position.
Jeronamo

Super happy now
Will

Apparently Óliver is joining Villareal on loan for 1 year that can become 2 (if both clubs agree). Hope he makes it to the first team, it’s all he needs.
jeronamo

Yeah i just saw that too
pantic#10

Yes Oliver to Villareal till the end of the season. with option for the next season (both team will decide together)
good for him, he’ll play in a strong team. good luck Oliver!
Adnan Khan

Ahhh, so now i have to watch Villareal match every week too.
AndersAT

Great decision to let Oliver play for a top team like Villarreal, it would be awesome if he could get some regular playingtime. Especially if we get Diego back.
piserakos

Still nothing official:S
Adnan Khan

I hope he gets a lot of playing time in Villareal, maybe he should have been lent to a team were he would get playing time. like rayo vallecano, real betis and other teams who doesnt have that many great player in their squad.
piserakos

bienvenido diegito!!! At last it is official!
Andres (lolaya)

I just heard Oliver Torres is gone to Villarreal on loan and guilavogui is off to saint ettient until june as well. Diego Ribas is a great signing as a loan.
Adnan Khan

this transfer window was a win for us. Diego and Sosa on a loan, thats great!!
Ahmad Hossainy

for 500.000 euros, and at the end of the season his contract with Wolfsburg expires,
then we can sign him permanently .. for freeeeeee !

every single Atleti fan should pray for Caminero that he dose not go to prison for the Money Laundering case he is accused of

This man is a genius sport manager .. just like he was a genius player

if any of you have watched Brad Pitt movie “Money Ball”, Caminero is our Peter Brand, but without a Yale degree, he is just a street smart !
just like in the Movie -which was based on a true story about an American baseball team- :
He & Simeone built an “affordable winning team” .. in a very difficult economic situation
maybe one day they will have their own movie

I don’t want Oliver to leave on loan though,
I don’t think at this stage of the season, and with his age and his injury that he will have too many minutes with any other team, especially Villareal who have many good players in the midfield

I prefer that he stays with us so he will be there when Gabi lifts another trophy !

He still can have some minutes with us, because Koke will not have to play every single game, and in different positions
David Villa is the one who will have less minutes, because now we will for sure switch from 4-4-2 to 4-2-3-1
and I don’t see Adrian having many minutes either

Kris, if you remember our conversation, Diego is that one missing piece we were looking for,
and now -only now- I believe we have a chance -even a little one- to win La Liga this season

again and again, I don’t feel sorry for Joshua .. he is not even our player to feel sorry him, he is Doyen Group’s player
in fact, I feel happy for this failure of Jorge Mendes
a harsh thing to say ?! .. maybe .. but it’s because I love and respect the great club of Atletico de Madrid

Viva Caminero .. Bienvenido Diego .. Aupa Atleti
Ahmad Hossainy

Oliver move to Villareal on loan until the end of the season is also official

I just wish this time there is a condition in the contract that he can’t play against us
kris

Ahmad!! HELL YES! HELL FOOKING YES!! You don’t know how happy I am right now,, man.. Sorry Diego, though, for calling you a money-whore. I asked for this to be proven wrong, and it’s been proven wrong!! The missing piece has been finally filled with Diego’s arrival. Cholo also needed and wanted him, as all the fans. This is great!! And, Oliver!! This is a dream move if Oliver can start getting more and more minutes with Villarreal, he will be ready right when we need him. Definitely a win January transfer window for us. Caminero the Greatest.!! Gracias for making your fans of this great club so happy!! Forza Atleti!!
Ash

Simone+Caminero = Golden Pair
Ash

By the way, will Cholo start Diego instantly in the next game?
Ash

The English version of AS has put on a headline: Diego Ribas on Atlético return: “I could see the team’s potential” you can read it here: http://as.com/diarioas/2014/01/31/english/1391185168_265055.html “I feel incredibly emotional to be returning to a club where I really felt at home. It’s very exciting and emotional for me. All I am thinking about is getting back down to work to help the team to continue winning”. ——Diego Ribas
starvs

THIS IS THE REAL FUCKING DEAL!

THE PIECE WE ALL KNEW WE NEEDED. AT THE 11TH HOUR NO LESS.

WHO HADN’T GIVEN UP HOPE THAT HE’D EVER RETURN!?

CAPS FOR DIEGO!

DDDDDIIIIIIIEEEEEEEGGGGGOOOOOOOOOO
Ahmad Hossainy

Kris, many need to apologize to Diego, not just you 🙂
Just like many had to apologize to RG8 (some of them still didn’t)

but not me though, not for Raul, and certainly not for Diego

since I saw his tears after he scored the 3rd goal vs Athletic in Europa League Final 2012, I said to myself :
this man has fallen in love with Atleti, and if it’s up to him, he will never leave

It was a perfect mach,
He was the great playmaker that we never had for a long time, we used to have great strikers, but not playmakers
And he rediscovered himself again with Atleti, after a not so good season with Juventus, then a not so bad one, but with a small team like Wolfsburg
But we didn’t have enough money to sign him, and if you are not rich, you have to be smart .. and patient
so we waited for a season and a half to get him .. for free .. not too long time !

in fact, if Chelsea refused to sell Courtois, or asked for a very high price, or for one of our stars, we can do the same thing
if Thibaut really wants to stay, and Chelsea made things complicated, he can stay with them for a season and a half (his contract expires 2016) then he can negotiate without their permission

But I don’t think that Abramovich will let the asshole Mourinho do whatever he wants with Courtois, he is a reasonable businessman, and will not put that idiot in charge of anything other than coaching
palc

Descanse en paz Luis Aragones
Dirceu

Enjoy the the coming back of Diego, I just came across with this video from youtube and I think he’s quite impressive at Wolfsburg. Just wonder why Wolfsburg just let him go that easy? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhmSnfGC3M8
Ash

@DIRCEU Wolfsburg just got a new core midfielder from Chelsea.