Athletic Bilbao won the rematch against Levante in the semifinals of the Copa del Rey with 2: 1 and qualified for the final (3: 2 overall result), where they will face Barcelona. On Wednesday, the Catalans turned Sevilla after a 0-2 loss in the first match.
In regular time, the Basques and Levante failed to win. Both teams exchanged one goal and ended in a draw 1: 1. The goals were scored by Marty Roger for the hosts and Raul Garcia from a penalty for the guests.
After the first match ended with an identical result (1: 1), the match went into overtime. In the 112th minute Alejandro Berenger scored and qualified Athletic for the final, which will be held on April 17. Curiously, on April 3, the Basques will face Real Sociedad in the postponed due to the pandemic final for the King's Cup last season.
Thus, Athletic will have two chances to win the Cup, which was last done in 1984.
In the 1st minute, the goalkeeper of Athletic Bilbao had to intervene after Ennis Bardi shot from a direct free kick.
Five minutes later, the Basques missed a golden opportunity to take the lead. Raul Garcia was brought behind the defense and found himself alone against the goalkeeper of Levante, but sent the ball away from the door.
In the 17th minute Marty Roger intercepted a cross and sent the ball into the net behind Unai Simon for 1: 0 in favor of the hosts.
Quite logically, Altetic raised the revs in the next minutes in search of an equalizer. In the 24th minute Iker Muniain shot dangerously with his head, but the ball flew inches past the door.
Four minutes later, Oscar Duarte committed a foul in the penalty area and Chief Justice Carlos del Cerro Grande pointed to the white dot. The situation was also considered by the VAR, but the referee did not change his initial decision. Behind the ball stood Raul Garcia, who sent a relentless shot into the net and restored the tie - 1: 1.
Shortly before the break from Levante they had claims for a penalty. VAR intervened again, but this time the judge ruled that there were no grounds to award a penalty.
In the 66th minute Muniain received a clear shooting position, but failed to find the target. Ten minutes later, Alejandro Berenger also missed close to hit the home team's goal and largely put an end to the dispute.
In the 82nd minute, Carlos del Cerro Grande again consulted the VAR to see if the Basques' claim for a penalty was justified. The Chief Justice ruled that there was no reason to point to the white dot.
Until the end of the regular time, the result remained unchanged and so the match went into overtime.
It seemed that neither team would score a goal and the second finalist would be determined by penalties. In the 112th minute, however, luck smiled on the guests. Alejandro Berenger broke through the center and shot from the edge of the penalty area. The ball bounced in Nikola Vukcevic's body and flew into the net. Levante's goalkeeper Aitor Fernandez was caught in the act and looked helplessly at the ball, which bounced off his right side post and crossed the goal line.
With Berenger's goal, the task for Levante became extremely difficult. In the remaining minutes until the end, the hosts needed two unanswered goals. Athletic Bilbao, however, kept his cool and did not give any chance to his opponent.
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