Spain - Coach Carlo Ancelotti always has faith even though Real Madrid is constantly being led by Sociedad in the second leg of the King's Cup semi-final on the evening of April 1.
In the 80th minute of the match at the Bernabeu, Mike Oyarzabal raised the score to 3-1 for Sociedad, thereby leading 3-2 on aggregate. However, when pushed to the brink of defeat, Real successfully turned the tables. In the 82nd and 86th minutes, Jude Bellingham and Aurelien Tchouameni helped the home team lead 4-3.
When the match entered injury time, the difficulties continued to test Real's mettle. After Oyarzabal equalized the final score at 4-4 in the 90+3 minute, the two teams had to play two more extra periods. In the 115th minute, when the match was about to enter the penalty shootout, Antonio Rudiger headed the ball to seal the 5-4 victory.
When asked about the two difficult moments, coach Ancelotti replied: "I never thought Real would be eliminated, because anything can happen at the Bernabeu. We never give up at home."
Ancelotti admitted that Sociedad are a good opponent and have caused a lot of difficulties for Real. He also said that his students made many mistakes, but still completed the task. "When we were down 0-1, we reacted well. When we were down 1-3 and had two extra periods, we completely dominated," the Italian coach added.
On April 26, Real will play the King's Cup final against the winner of the Atletico - Barca match. The match will take place at the neutral La Carteja stadium, Seville.
Atletico and Barca will play the second leg of the semi-finals on the evening of April 2 at the Metropolitano stadium. In the first leg, the two teams also drew 4-4. "We're in another final and we'll win," said centre-back Rudiger confidently.
The last time Real won the Copa del Rey was in the 2022-23 season. They have 20 Copa del Rey titles in their history, third behind Barca (31 titles) and Bilbao (24).