{"id":616102,"date":"2026-04-19T00:43:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T00:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/616102\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T00:43:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T00:43:14","slug":"real-sociedad-lift-copa-del-rey-after-marrero-shootout-heroics-sink-atletico-copa-del-rey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/616102\/","title":{"rendered":"Real Sociedad lift Copa del Rey after Marrero shootout heroics sink Atl\u00e9tico | Copa del Rey"},"content":{"rendered":"

History has a pair unexpected heroes. Unai Marrero, a 24-year-old backup goalkeeper, born in San Sebasti\u00e1n and raised at Real Sociedad, saved two penalties in the shootout to put his boyhood club within a single shot of victory on the what his captain had called the night of their lives. Then he embraced Pablo Marin, the former ballboy who now walked towards him carrying all of their hopes on his shoulders, kissed him on the cheek and asked his teammate to take them over the line. So Marin, 22, and on as a substitute, did just that, stepping up and securing only the fourth Copa del Rey in la Real\u2019s history, defeating Atl\u00e9tico Madrid<\/a> from the spot.<\/p>\n

Last time they had won it, in 2021, it took a penalty. This time it took six of them; Mikel Oyarzabal, as he had done then, scored one during the 90 minutes on the way to a 2-2 draw and three more men did in the shootout. Back then, Real Sociedad<\/a> had won the trophy it in an empty stadium, unable to avoid the feeling that something was missing. Now at last they had done it in front of thousands of fans in Seville \u2013 there to see a trophy lifted for the first time in 38 years.<\/p>\n

What a moment this was for Marin, for Marrero \u2013 already the shootout hero after another 2-2 draw in the last 16 and leaping about before all the kicks here \u2013 and for all of them, not least for their coach, Pellegrino Matarazzo. The man from Bergen County, New Jersey, with the degree in applied mathematics from Columbia University took over at La Real four months ago, revived a side that was threatened with relegation and now stood here in Sevilla at midnight holding the cup to the sky. Unknown back then, he could not be more loved in San Sebasti\u00e1n now. \u2018It\u2019s a joy to be able to bring joy to so many people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

It had all happened on a long night with four goals, including the fastest in the competition\u2019s history, and it had been done the hard way. But for Real Sociedad had the perfect ending, a cup run that included three derbies and two penalty shoots had concluded the way they wished it. \u201cI was in my element,\u201d Marrero said. \u201cI\u2019m still not conscious of what\u2019s happened here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s begin at the beginning. The very beginning. It was 13 years since Atl\u00e9tico had been in a cup final and 13 seconds before they were behind. From the kick-off Real Sociedad went back to Marrero who hit it long up the pitch, multiple failures leading to a moment no one could have imagined.<\/p>\n

Quick GuideAtl\u00e9tico Madrid 2-2 Real Sociedad (3-4 on pens) lineupsShow<\/p>\n

Atl\u00e9tico Madrid Musso; Molina (Cardoso 78), Pubill, Le Normand, Ruggeri (S\u00f8rloth 63); Simeone (Baena 70), Llorente (Lenglet 99), Koke, Lookman (Gonz\u00e1lez 62); Griezmann (Almada 70), Alvarez. Bookings Musso, Le Normand.\u00a0Subs not used Oblak, Esquivel, Hancko, Barrios, Mendoza, Vargas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Real Sociedad\u00a0Marrero; Aramburu (Elustondo 113), Mart\u00edn, Caleta-Car, G\u00f3mez (Kubo 88); Soler, Sucic, Turrientes (Gorrotxategi 68), Barrenetxea (Mar\u00edn 69); Oyarzabal (\u00d3skarsson 78), Guedes (Mu\u00f1oz 78).\u00a0Bookings Oyarzabal, Gorrotxategi, Elustondo. Subs not used Remiro, Beitia, Aguirre, Herrera, M\u00e9ndez, Wesley.<\/p>\n

Referee\u00a0Alberola Rojas.<\/p>\n

Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n

Nahuel Molina watched it sail over his head without moving. Giuliano Simeone was beaten by the bounce. Marc Pubill didn\u2019t react. Matteo Ruggeri was beaten in the air. And when Gon\u00e7alo Guedes\u2019 cross was met by Ander Barrenetxea\u2019s head, Juan Musso was a little slow to react, the ball dropping in.<\/p>\n

Atl\u00e9tico equalised early when Antoine Griezmann slipped inside and Juli\u00e1n Alvarez let it run to Ademola Lookman. But Atl\u00e9tico were struggling and la Real took the lead again before half-time when Musso arrived too late for a free kick and, instead of the ball, caught Guedes with his fist. From the penalty spot, Oyarzabal \u2013 the Real Sociedad captain who scored the game\u2019s only goal when they won the cup in this same but empty stadium five years ago \u2013 was the calmest man at La Cartuja scoring from the spot. This was his sixth final; he has scored in all of them.<\/p>\n

Ander Barrenetxea (second right) celebrates after giving Real Sociedad the lead after 13 seconds. Photograph: Marcelo del Pozo\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Atl\u00e9tico dominated possession thereafter but produced little until Julian Alvarez finally broke their resistance with six minutes to go. Letting the ball move across the front of his body, taking the defenders out of the game as it went, he hit a superb finish past Marrero.<\/p>\n

The pitch tilted, the momentum built, everything accelerating now, but somehow Atl\u00e9tico didn\u2019t win it. Alex Baena put Marcos Llorente\u2019s ball over the bar from four yards, Sorloth headed just wide, and then Johnny Cardoso was in, Marrero flashing out a palm to push past the post. And there was still time for Alvarez to win a free-kick deep into added time. He, though, hit the wall and Llorente struck the rebound wide taking it to extra time.<\/p>\n

Real were resurrected somehow, finding some strength that had seemed to have deserted them, belying the blow of having seen victory slip from their grasp. Llorente had to sprint back to stop Orri Oskarsson running through. Marc Pubill dived block with his chest, Atl\u00e9tico just about scrambling clear. Then Musso made a double save, first from Luka Sucic and second, even more remarkably, from Oskarsson. At the other end, Alvarez rattled the bar. All that in nine minutes. Time though was slipping away, chances drying up, exhaustion and nerves taking over as penalties and Marrero\u2019s moment came ever closer, Marin\u2019s too. History was sealed with a save, one last shot and a kiss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"History has a pair unexpected heroes. Unai Marrero, a 24-year-old backup goalkeeper, born in San Sebasti\u00e1n and raised…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":616103,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-616102","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=616102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/616103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=616102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=616102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=616102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}