Atlético Madrid’s French striker Antoine Griezmann saw his first opportunity to cover his “last dance” in Madrid with gold disappear on Saturday in the final of the Copa del Rey, won on penalties (2-2, 4-3 tab) by Real Sociedad, his training club. It was certainly not the outing he dreamed of: the French world champion left the pitch in the 70th minute, head down and without the trophy he had come to get, finally, at the age of 35, before leaving Madrid for good for Orlando, in MLS.
Four days after the Colchoneros qualified for the semi-finals of the Champions League at the expense of FC Barcelona, the top scorer in the history of the rojiblanco club watched helplessly as his team lost on penalties (4-3) from the sidelines. A fourth trophy which is worth gold for Real Sociedad, currently seventh in La Liga and directly qualified for the Europa League before the end of a season which it had started by flirting with the relegation zone, until the arrival of the American Pellegrino Matarazzo on its bench.
Fourteen seconds and it’s (already) the tragedy
Griezmann’s dream scenario quickly turned into a nightmare, from the 14th second of play, when Spanish international Ander Barrenetxea headed in a cross from former Parisian Gonçalo Guedes in the first action of the match to give the Basques the advantage (1st, 1-0). The fastest goal in history in a Copa del Rey final, quite simply, beating the previous record which dated from 1952, held by a former Valencia player, Manuel Badenes.
An early opening score came as a surprise to the tens of thousands of Rojiblancos supporters who had traveled to the Cartuja Olympic stadium in Seville, with the hope of seeing their team lift the Cup for the first time since 2013. Forced to attack, which it does much better than it defends this season, contrary to the clichés about the sometimes very rough style of Argentine coach Diego Simeone, Atlético seriously leaned towards left, on the side of the Nigerian Ademola Lookman.
But it was from the sight of Griezmann, a decisive passer for the former Atalanta striker, that the equalizing goal for the men of “Cholo” came, with a powerful strike from the left pivoting from the entrance to the area (19th, 1-1). The meeting was then much more open than expected, and it was the Basque club which showed itself to be the most enterprising in seeking a first trophy since 2020, without managing to deceive the vigilance of Argentine goalkeeper Juan Musso, kept in goal despite the return of the experienced Jan Oblak.
A final hope in the Champions League for Grizou
The former Atalanta goalkeeper, late in his aerial exit, unintentionally hit Guedes in the face and offered a penalty to Real, transformed without trembling by Basque captain Mikel Oyarzabal (45th, 2-1). Without Lookman or Griezmann, who came out in the 62nd and 70th minutes, it was the Argentinian Julian Alvarez who took responsibility to bring Atlético back to the level with a superb shot from the left (83rd, 2-2) which sent the two teams into overtime, after the failures of incoming Alex Baena (87th) and Johnny Cardoso (90th + 1).
Neither “God” nor “destiny”, invoked by Simeone before the meeting, were then enough to properly reward Griezmann for the efforts made during their ten years of collaboration, marked by two disappointments in the C1 final (2014, 2016). And so it was Real Sociedad who emerged victorious from the penalty shootout (4 to 3).
There will perhaps be a third, at the end of May in Budapest, so that number 7 can leave his favorite club as it should be: on the roof of Europe. But for that we will have to beat Arsenal in the half, before facing whatever happens the best in Europe this season, namely PSG or Bayern. “Good luck,” as the other would say.
Leave a Reply