Real, Barca same-day Copa losses first in 65 years
Real Madrid and Barcelona were ousted from the Copa del Rey quarterfinals yesterday, the first time in nearly 65 years that the La Liga giants were eliminated from the tournament on the same day.
Real Sociedad ended Real Madrid’s 21-game unbeaten run by winning 4-3 at the Bernabeu, while Barcelona were sent crashing out thanks to hosts Athletic Bilbao on a stoppage time header. According to ESPN Stats & Information, the last time the two
Spanish traditional powers were bounced from the competition on the same day was May 29, 1955, when Real Madrid lost to Sevilla and Barcelona were eliminated by Athletic Club in the semifinals.
With Real and Barcelona out of this year’s competition, Basque clubs Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao will join fellow La Liga counterparts Granada and second division side Mirandes in the final four.
The last Copa del Rey semifinals without Real Madrid and Barcelona occurred in 2009-10. Barcelona have lifted the Copa a record 30 times, while Real Madrid have won it 19 times. Athletic Bilbao have 23 titles but have not won since the 1983-84 season. Barcelona coach Quique Setien said he was hurt by the elimination but was pleased with his side’s performance.
“Today everything went well apart from the result,” he said. “We took a step forward in our play and I’m pleased with many things we did, I’m not only looking at the result.”
On Real Madrid’s loss, manager Zinedine Zidane said: “It’s a bad feeling because we lost at home. We started badly. We tried until the end and the second half was much better ... the opponent played well.
“We were bad in the first half with our press, then we made defensive mistakes.”