Beat Atletico Madrid on penalties, Real Sociedad Copa del Rey champion

JAKARTA - Real Sociedad became the Copa del Rey champion after defeating Atletico Madrid 4-3 (2-2) through a penalty shootout drama in the final match held at the De la Cartuja Stadium, Seville, Sunday, April 19, 2026 early morning WIB.

Sociedad actually did not occupy the top spot in the Copa del Rey final. Atletico, who is the favorite to win after showing consistency in the Spanish La Liga competition and successfully advancing to the semifinals of the Champions League. Not to mention, Atletico eliminated one of the favorites, Barcelona, in a La Liga duel in the quarter finals.

The success of overcoming Barca despite losing 2-1 in the second match became a convincing capital for Atletico when they faced Sociedad in the final of the Copa del Rey. However, Diego Simeone's team actually made a bad start. Sociedad made a surprise by immediately attacking Atletico's defense.

The result, the match only lasted less than a minute, Sociedad was ahead through Ander Barrenetxea's goal. This is the fastest goal in the Copa del Rey because it was created in 14 seconds. This broke the record of Manuel Badenes, a Valencia player who scored in 17 seconds in 1957.

Atletico could indeed equalize, but they always missed the goal until striker Julian Alvarez saved the team by successfully turning the score to 2-2.

However, he and his tandem, Alexander Sorloth, failed to carry out their duties during the penalty shootout. Their failure made Los Rojiblancos have to admit the superiority of Sociedad who only failed once to complete the execution.

Sociedad also managed to win the Copa del Rey for the fourth time. They last won the title in 2020 by defeating Athletic Bilbao 1-0 through Mikel Oyarzabal's goal. Interestingly, Sociedad became the champion in the final match which was also held at the De la Cartuja Stadium, Seville. Not only that, Oyarzabal who is still part of Sociedad also contributed a goal in the match against Atletico.

"This is a moment that must be enjoyed together. A moment that is a dream and belief [to be champions]. This is the dream of all players and we can make it happen," said Sociedad goalkeeper Unai Marrero who thwarted Atletico's two penalties.

Meanwhile, Sociedad captain Koke was disappointed at failing to become champions. According to him, the team has made every effort since the first minute of the match. In fact, they actually got more chances before the match ended.

"We had a few chances towards the end of the 90 minutes. If we had scored, then the end of the game would have been different," said Koke.

"We have made every effort. In fact, we had to catch up with the goal as soon as the match started. We congratulate La Real. It's really disappointing but we have to keep going," he said again.

The final battle featured two teams who both played fast and put the ball directly in front. And, Sociedad proved that strategy worked very well. Starting from winger Goncalo Guedes who received a long pass and then released a cross ball received by Barrenetxea. He greeted the ball with a hard header that defeated goalkeeper Juan Musso. The goal was created in the 14th minute, even when none of the Atletico players had touched the ball.

Atletico, who last won the Copa del Rey in 2013, were immediately stung. They put intense pressure on Sociedad's defense. As a result, they didn't take long to equalize. Midfielder Ademola Lookman successfully broke into Sociedad's goal after completing a pass from Antoine Griezmann.

The goal in the 19th minute changed the score to a 1-1 draw. Atletico was even more aggressive in pressing the opponent's defense. Even Griezmann almost brought Atletico back to the lead when welcoming Lookman's pass. However, the 35-year-old striker's attempt still failed because he could be blocked by Sociedad's defense line.

Despite the pressure, Sociedad managed to regain the lead before the first half. This is because Sociedad got a penalty after a foul committed by goalkeeper Musso against Guedes. The referee gave a penalty because Musso was late in welcoming the ball from Sociedad's free kick.

As a result, Musso who had jumped instead hit Guedes' head who had already headed the ball. Although he received protests from Musso, the referee chose to ignore him. He even gave a yellow card to Musso before pointing to the white spot. The penalty was executed well by Oyarzabal. The score changed to 2-1 for Sociedad and lasted until the first half ended.

In the second half, Atletico took the initiative to attack. They also managed to put pressure on Sociedad's defense. At least, Griezmann and Lookman got the chance to equalize. However, both of them were unable to finish the opportunity.

After many failed attempts, Atletico finally managed to break the deadlock in the 83rd minute. Alvarez managed to save Atletico by defeating goalkeeper Marrero to tie the score to 2-2.

The draw score lasted until the end of the match so it continued with extra time. This time, Sociedad played more calmly and created a number of opportunities. However, the team coached by Pellegrino Matarazzo failed to finish every opportunity so no goal was created.

The match was ended with a penalty shootout. Sociedad looked more confident. Even Marrero immediately thwarted Atletico's first two kickers, Sorloth and Alvarez.

Meanwhile, Musso thwarted striker Orri Oskarsson's execution. However, Sociedad's first kicker Carlos Soler managed to complete the execution. In the next three kicks, both Musso and Morrero failed to anticipate it. Substitute Pablo Marin, who was the last Sociedad kicker, successfully completed the execution and led the team to a 4-3 victory. Sociedad also emerged as the Copa del Rey champion.