Real Sociedad receives Athletic Club this Wednesday in Anoeta in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals. The San Sebastian team won the first leg 0-1 with a goal from Turrientes and want to make good use of that slight advantage to be in the grand final. Follow it live here, on La 1 and on RTVE Play from 9:00 p.m.
Confirmed lineups
Royal Society: Marrero, Aramburu, Zubeldia, Martín, Gómez; Gorrotxategi, Turrientes, Soler; Guedes, Barrenetxea and Oyarzabal.
Athletic Club: Padilla; Yuri, Vivian, Walls, Report; Rego, Jaureguizar; Iñaki, Sancet, Berenguer; Guruzeta.
The previous
Anoeta will dress up to host the Basque Cup dereby between Real Sociedad and Athletic Club. Now, before almost 40,000 souls, who will crowd the San Sebastian fiefdom, they will seek to make good on this advantage and get into the ninth final in their history and the second in the 21st century.
Athletic Club has more experience in cup finals, which wants to be in the title match for the 41st time in its history, and the fourth time in the last seven years. To do this he will have to overcome an adverse result at home, something that has only been achieved in one of the 12 Copa del Rey qualifiers -against Real Murcia in the round of 16 of the 1954-55 season (0-1 and 0-2). What the rojiblancos do know is to get a place in the final away from Bilbao, since in 2015, 2020 and 2021 they would achieve it -Espanyol, Granada and Levante-.
A return to which both teams arrive at a good moment of results. Unlike the Bilbao match, to which the locals arrived lacking good results, now, both Real Sociedad and Athletic Club are in a good dynamic: three wins and only one loss in the last five games in both cases. Of course, Real is clinging to the fact that they remain undefeated at home in 2026 and that Athletic has not won there since 2017.
And to turn the tie around, Ernesto Valverde’s men, who will not be able to count on the suspended Ruiz de Galarreta and the injured Nico Williams, cling on to the great moment of form Gorka Guruzetawho already scored in Anoeta in the league match, as well as Iñaki Williams and Alex Berenguer, protagonists in the lions’ last two passes to the finals, and who arrive at the match fully recovered from their injuries aiming to be in the lineup.
On the San Sebastian side, ‘Rino’ Matarazzo, who will have the only casualties of the injured Take Kubo and Álvaro Odriozolawill want to continue the game exhibited in San Mamés, where the San Sebastian team were far superior. Thus, the American could bet on the same midfield, in which Turrientes, Gorrotxa and Carlos Soler formed a trivote, passing over the red and white midfield.
In addition, it will have the Mikel Oyarzabal factor, who always appears on big nights. The Zubieta youth squad and ‘txuri urdin’ captain He was the main protagonist of the Cup final that faced both teams in 2021, scoring, from eleven meters, the goal that gave Real Sociedad the title. Added to this is that Athletic is their second favorite victim with eight goals, although they have had five derbies without scoring.
