The Williams and San Mamés put Athletic in the final of the Copa del Rey

The great performance of Iñaki and Nico knocks down a disastrous Atlético de Madrid (3-0)

BILBAO, Feb. 29 (from EUROPA PRESS special envoy, Daniel Cabornero) -

Athletic Club beat Atlético de Madrid 3-0 this Thursday, with a stellar performance by the brothers Iñaki and Nico Williams, and thus reached the final of the Copa del Rey, carried by San Mamés against a null opponent and whose season is crumbling by leaps and bounds, unable to overcome the 0-1 deficit in the first leg at the Cívitas Metropolitano.

In a packed stadium ready for battle, the visitors approached the rival goal first, with a cross from Koke Resurrección from the right wing and which Samu Lino finished off at the far post, directly into the hands of Julen Agirrezabala. minute 5 is over.

Although Athletic responded with a couple of attacks from Nico Williams on the left side, the second chance was again at the mattress in a header from Mario Hermoso following a corner taken between Rodrigo de Paul and Ángel Correa, the latter as a replacement for the injured Antoine Griezmann.

Those who were there were the Williams brothers, whose connection in the 13th minute made it 1-0. Nico left at the speed of Nahuel Molina on the left wing and rushed almost to the baseline to cross into the area, where Iñaki appeared behind Hermoso at the far post and hit a volleyball with his right foot, unstoppable for Jan Oblak now. that Hermoso was right in front of him, in his field of vision, and he crouched down.

First shot by the 'lions', on goal and in. Maximum efficiency that they combined with the threat from set pieces, while Atlético de Madrid entrusted themselves to Samu Lino in attack. On the other hand, his opponent needed less effort to almost make it 2-0 in the 27th minute, with roles switched between Iñaki as a low passer and Nico as a free-marking finisher.

Oblak was miraculously saved in that shot, replicated by the Madrid team with another from Correa to the clouds after a good play by Lino. The Brazilian was the only positive news for Diego Pablo Simeone, who just before half-time saw his defense fail for the umpteenth time.

Thanks to a long pass towards Gorka Guruzeta, Athletic's only forward at that time, two Colchonero defenders jumped at the same time; without rapport, Stefan Savic and Axel Witsel missed at the same time and Guruzeta extended a header. The ball fell at the feet of Oihan Sancet, who opened up Iñaki and he sprinted down the right wing faster than Hermoso.

The '9' of the Bilbao team reached the baseline and crossed low in favor of his brother Nico, who had positioned himself in the small area and finished from point-blank range under Savic's nose to beat Oblak from below. The second ticket to the final seemed to have already been awarded due to that goal and the laziness of their opponent, who did not make any changes during the intermission.

DELAY TO THE START OF THE SECOND PART

The second half started a quarter of an hour late, due to medical attention to a fan. The attendance record at the new San Mamés, with 52,061 spectators, was tarnished for a few moments. However, once the mishap was overcome, Ernesto Valverde's pupils once again overwhelmed Atlético de Madrid at both ends.

Nico won a split ball from Molina when the 50th minute passed, he quickly planted himself in Oblak's area and gave way to his left in the run, so that Sancet sent his shot over the crossbar with everything in his favor. Guruzeta, after a mistake by De Paul, also bothered the rival goalkeeper with a dangerous right hand from the edge of the area.

Atlético de Madrid stretched with a deflected shot from Correa in the crown of the area, but it was just before being replaced by Memphis Depay. 'Cholo' Simeone also introduced Pablo Barrios and Reinildo Mandava onto the field, in order to lift the spirits of a broken team without ideas that, to make matters worse, conceded 3-0 in the 61st minute.

Guruzeta combed a cross that was going his way, but he stayed attentive in the area to see how the play continued; Sancet tamed the ball, angled, shot low on the grass, Oblak cleared as best he could and Guruzeta himself pushed the third goal into the net. San Mamés was emboldened, thinking about the title match on April 6 against RCD Mallorca in La Cartuja.

There was also no shortage of chants dedicated to Simeone, minutes before Nico Williams had the 4-0 in his boots with a right hand that Oblak saved on the ground two times. On the Colchonero side, there was barely a direct free kick taken with impetus by Memphis, in the 75th minute, and a right hand from Roro Riquelme ten minutes later, all solved by Agirrezabala.

The duel went off without a hitch, as Atlético de Madrid had shown its terrible face away from home and the dedicated 'leona' fans celebrated their classification, while in the center of the field a banner was displayed with the motto in English 'Unique in the world' ('Only in the world') to encourage their footballers ahead of the final.

DATASHEET.

--RESULT: ATHLETIC CLUB, 3 - ATLÉTICO DE MADRID, 0 (2-0, at halftime).

--ALIGNMENTS.

ATHLETIC CLUB: Agirrezabala; De Marcos (Yeray, min.89), Vivian, Paredes, Lekue; R. de Galarreta (Dani García, min. 68), Prados; Iñaki Williams (Berenguer, min.80), Sancet (Unai Gómez, min.81), Nico Williams; y Cross (Raúl García, min.89).

ATLÉTICO DE MADRID: Oblak; Molina (Barrios, min.54), Savic, Witsel, Hermoso (Reinildo, min.54), Lino (Riquelme, min.72); De Paul, Koke (Saúl, min.65), Llorente; Correa (Memphis, min.54) and Morata.

--GOALS:

1-0, min.13: Iñaki Williams.

   2-0, min.42: Nico Williams.

3-0, min.61: Guruzeta.

--REFEREE: Martínez Munuera (C.Valenciano). He yellow carded R. de Galarreta (min.40), Lekue (min.66) and De Marcos (min.75) at Athletic Club, and Hermoso (min.28) at Atlético de Madrid.

--STADIUM: San Mamés, 52,061 spectators.