The last time the red and white team came close to elimination in this tournament format was over 21 years ago.
Athletic Club de Bilbao, reigning Copa del Rey champions, will continue in “their” tournament after a captivating round of 16 match against Segunda RFEF side Union Deportiva Logroñés, which held them in failure during the entire match, extra time, missing only one penalty during the penalty shootout.
Thus, the Bilbao team can claim that they remain in contention for the Copa del Rey, but this comes after an unconvincing performance, where they failed to finish in a proper manner and clearly dominated a vastly inferior opponent , who didn’t appear to be in trouble because he wasn’t really put to the test.
In reality, neither team, made up of substitutes, imposed their style, benefiting more those who aimed to defend and endure, like Logroñés, who entertained the audience with a display of resilience whose only real tests were two poorly taken penalties.
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Logroñés held on through the first half without too many hiccups, trying to hold off an Athletic team that at times seemed contemplative and frustrated by the deplorable state of the pitch.
Although his coach says such games fill him with “panic”, his players did not seem keen to pile on the pressure from the start; on the contrary, they chose to control the pace and gradually push the La Rioja team back into their own half.
However, it was only control, without raising the tempo, and on their best chances they lacked precision, allowing Logroñés to stay in the match much longer than the initial scenario suggested.
Things could have changed quickly if Djaló had not taken away a decent shot in the 9th minute or if, shortly before, Berenguer had not had such a weak finish.
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A good action from Adama on the left, which found no conclusion, and an imprecise shot from Ander Herrera made up the rest of Athletic’s offensive efforts during the first half hour.
It was then that Logroñés started to believe a little more and tried to keep the ball away from his area, but without taking too many risks to avoid mistakes.
Thus, the insipid first half ended with another inaccurate shot from Berenguer, who provided his team’s most notable effort.
Ernesto Valverde allowed his starters an additional fifteen minutes, but during this time, in addition to showing obvious technical superiority, Athletic did little else; Nico Serrano in the 49th minute and Berenguer again in the 55th had the best chances for the Bilbao side during this period, both with shots going just wide.
After an hour of generally boring play, Valverde decided to change things up and inject a little more pace into the match. He brought in the Williams brothers, added Vivian for more power in central defense, and Jauregizar in search of more “legs” in midfield.
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As a result, Athletic gained ground in its pressing against a Logroñés team which was moving deeper and deeper into its zone but defending well in search of extra time. In the space of a few moments, the Riojans neutralized their opponent’s attempts to accelerate the pace, and lethargy returned to the Las Gaunas field.
Guruzeta had ambition, trying to break the tie with two decisive shots between the 69th and 72nd minutes, but both were too poorly directed.
The increasingly frustrated Athletic called for a penalty for a handball in the Riojan zone – in a competition without VAR – but they also did little more to avoid extra time that rewarded the Riojan fans with more than soccer.
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Extra time was a countdown for Logroñés, who encountered their first real problem when Nico Williams tried to “invent” an action near their area, ending only in a corner that Berenguer diverted just wide in the 97th minute.
Guruceta had a weak shot in the 103rd straight into the arms of Kike Royo, and Nico Williams, in the 114th, had the clearest chance to score, but the Riojan goalkeeper made a superb save to keep the game tied as the crowd chanted, “Yes, we can!”
The Riojan side achieved their goal and took part in the penalty ‘lottery’, where Aguirrezabala rose to the occasion against Gualda and Sarriegui, whose errors provided an important cushion for Athletic, with only Nico Williams missing his shot but ultimately ensuring the passage of his team.
