Athletic Bilbao win their 24th Copa del Rey title: Stats
Athletic Bilbao beat Mallorca on penalties to win the 2023-24 Copa del Rey honor. Dani Rodriguez handed Mallorca the lead in the 21st minute as they went to half-time being ahead. Oihan Sancet equalized for Bilbao in the 50th minute. Both sides failed to find a winner thereafter for the remainder of normal time and then 30 minutes of extra time.
Athletic Bilbao win first Copa del Rey title since 1983-84
Athletic Club have won their 24th Copa del Rey title. Only Barcelona (31) have more. Athletic Club last won the title in 1983-84. They went on to lose six successive finals thereafter in 1984-85, 2008-09, 2011-12, 2014-15, 2019-20 and 2020-21. Mallorca had reached their fourth final. They won the trophy in their third attempt (2002-03). They finished runners-up in 1990-91, 1997-1998 and 2023-24.
4-2 win on penalties
Vedat Muriqi opened the shootout and scored for Mallorca. Raul Garcia made it 1-1 for Bilbao. Manu Morlanes missed his shot as Iker Munain made it 2-1 for Bilbao. Nemanja Radonjic missed for Mallorca as Mikel Vesga made it 3-1. Antonio Sanchez handed Mallorca a lifeline but Alejandro Remeiro made no mistake and helped Bilbao win 4-2.
Unique records for Athletic Club
The last team to win the Copa del Rey final after trailing at half-time was Barcelona in 1998 against Mallorca and now Bilbao have repeated history. Bilbao conceded the first goal in their last five Copa del Rey finals (2012, 2015, 2020, 2021, 2024). Bilbao have won all seven of their games in this edition of the Copa del Rey, keeping five clean sheets.
How did the match pan out?
Rodriguez scored for Mallorca after a corner as Athletic Club couldn't clear their lines. Bilbao finished as the better side in the first half but didn't find the equalizing goal. Five minutes after half-time, Nico Williams assisted Sancet for the equalizer. Both teams failed to find a winner thereafter with several presentable chances gone begging. Bilbao were brilliant in the shootout after extra time.
A look at the match stats
Bilbao had 30 shots against Mallorca but managed seven of them on target. Mallorca had five shots on target from 13 attempts. Bilbao had 69% ball possession and an 84% pass accuracy. They clocked 714 passes.
Athletic Club's journey in the tourney
Bilbao beat Rubi 2-1 in the opening round. They downed Eibar 3-0 in the round of 32. They took down Alaves 2-0 in R16. Bilbao needed extra time to take down FC Barcelona 4-2 in the quarter-finals. In the semis, they blanked Atletico Madrid 1-0 and 3-0 to win four-nil on aggregate. Now, they needed penalties to down Mallorca.
