Betis 1-Athletic 1 (1-4) | Heroic Unai Simon

Unai Simón saved two penalties in the shootout and put Athletic, an epic Athletic, in the second semifinals followed by a Copa del Rey, his competition. Raúl García had forced extra time before extra time and the Alava goalkeeper became the second and final hero to put his team in, blessed and especially in Seville (there he won the Super Cup a few days ago) and super competitive with Marcelino.

Canales has a lot of whiplash and before Osasuna he seemed tired. Perhaps that is why Pellegrini decided to place Carvalho as a squire and advance the position of the Cantabrian to take advantage of his quality closer to the opposing goal. Meanwhile, Athletic was missing its 'Channels'. Some muscular discomfort left Muniain out of the list while Villalibre was the big surprise in Marcelino's lineup, with Williams (somewhat touched too) on the bench.

However, the Biscayan team started better, more present in the opposite field although without notable occasions beyond some set pieces and una ball that Villalibre was about to finish off a few meters from Joel. As the minutes passed, Betis took control to create danger. Ruibal, Canales and Fekir shot from close but wide.

Joel took Yuri the first clear chance of the second half. De Marcos had a frank header, very clear, to have put Athletic ahead. But it was Juanmi, another of those players who very recently They seemed sentenced in Heliópolis, the one who for the moment avoided extra time when he hit a rebound inside the area (1-0, 83 '). Athletic called out with more heart than head … well, with more head, that of the tremendous Raúl García, who took advantage of a great center from Íñigo Martínez to force extra time at the last gasp (1-1, 94 ').

The self-preservation instinct and the obvious tiredness of a match-laden start to the year meant that there were hardly any chances in an overtime full of twin-team increases. Both teams signed penalties and the shootout came. That's where Unai Simón decided.