Unpublished end, centuries-old lives

Athletic and Real Sociedad are the finalists of the 116th edition of the Spanish Cup, current Copa del Rey, which will be played on April 18 at the La Cartuja stadium in Seville. They are two of the most traditional clubs of Spanish football and older, with more than a century of existence: the Athletic It was created in 1898, although its foundation act dates from 1901while the Real born in 1909; but they have never faced each other in a Spanish Cup final in its different modalities (Spanish Championship, 1903-1930; Republic Cup, 1931-1936; National Soccer Tournament, 1939; Generalissimo Cup, 1940-1976; and Copa del Rey, since 1977). His last showdown was in the 1987 semifinal in a double-play tie (0-0) and (0-1), where Real ended up winning the Cup.

The Basque derby par excellence will be staged for the first time in a Cup final. Athletic is already a veteran in these leaders, not in vain will play its final number 38: he has won the trophy 23 times (The rojilanco club is awarded on its website that of 1902, although it was won by a proto Athletic called Vizcaya de Bilbao) and on 14 occasions he has been runner-up. The last time he raised the Cup was in 1984, when he won Barcelona 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabéu. Y the last final he played was 31 years later, relatively recently, in 2015, when he lost 3-1 to Barça, at Camp Nou.

La Real can boast much less of their adventures in the Cup. He is a long way from his eternal rival. In fact, he has played five finals under the name of Real Sociedad, although the website of the San Sebastian club is awarded the 1909 one won by the San Sebastián Cycling Club, embryo of the Royal Society. With the current denomination, his last final was 32 years ago, with that Real of the 80s How much he enjoyed. He lost 1-0 to Barça at the Santiago Bernabéu. A year earlier he had lifted the trophy, for the only time in its history, in La Romareda, by winning Atlético de Madrid on penalties 4-2, after 2-2 at the end of the extension.

The final of Copa Athletic-Real Sociedad will therefore be unpublished. With the current denomination of Copa del Rey this is the 44th edition and the Basque derby in La Cartuja will be the 21st final unpublished in this period. The last one was Barça-Alavés of 2017. By the way, Athletic and Real They have faced 18 times in the Cup qualifiers and the balance is eight wins for Bilbao and four for Donostiarras. The last time they saw each other in the Cup was in the semifinal of 1987. Then it was Real who won a double game) 0-0 and 0-1) and the San Sebastian team played the final and won it.