It was far from easy, but Real Madrid are now on the cusp of the Copa del Rey final.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side won 1-0 at Real Sociedad in the first leg of the semi-final and will defend their lead at the Santiago Bernabeu on 1 April.
Real Sociedad dominated long stretches of the game but struggled to take their chances. In the end, Endrick’s goal in the 19th minute proved to be decisive for Madrid. It came after a masterpiece by Jude Bellingham, who found the Brazilian striker with a long pass that was as beautiful as it was precise.
“We have to be satisfied because the match was intense and competitive against an opponent who gave everything,” a satisfied Carlo Ancelotti said after the game. “It’s a good result for the second leg.”
However, the only negative note was Dani Ceballos’s serious injury, suffered due to the intensity of the match.
The Athletic’s Guillermo Rai was in San Sebastian and takes a look at the biggest talking points.
Did rotation work for Madrid?
Despite being a semi-final, the Copa del Rey is less important to Madrid than La Liga or the Champions League.
It is therefore not surprising that Ancelotti did not call up Thibaut Courtois, Fede Valverde and Kylian Mbappe. That trio were rested ahead of future commitments.
Instead, the Italian coach opted for some players who are used less often. Two of them were key to bringing the win home: Lunin and Endrick.
On the one hand, the Ukrainian goalkeeper made six saves during the match (more than Courtois did in recent games against opponents like Girona, Manchester City, Osasuna or Atletico). And his most important moment came in the 43rd minute when he saved a very powerful shot from Ander Barrenechea that was flying into the top corner of the net.
Endrick scores against Real Sociedad (David Ramos/Getty Images)
It was his ninth start of the season, but Lunin was also very secure with his feet and was not shaken by Real Sociedad’s forward pressure. However, Ancelotti did not want to clarify who would start in goal in the final: “He’s (Lunin) going to play the semi-finals. He performed very well today, he is a very reliable goalkeeper, he has done very well last year and this year. Now, to open the goalkeeping debate for the final seems too far away to me.”
On the other hand, Endrick proved to be super effective in attack: with only one shot on goal, he scored. The promising Brazilian striker has 6 goals in 430 minutes — averaging a goal every 71 minutes (the in the team this season).
Once again, the 18-year-old showed a lot of personality, despite facing a defender 17 centimetres taller than him like Nayef Aguerd (he is 1.90 metres tall). At several points in the match, the Morocco international brought him down and even fouled him twice.
But Endrick did not stop trying. After all, he has been training with Antonio Rudiger for months.
Did Vinicius Jr thrive in new role?
At 24, the Brazilian became one of the youngest captains in Real Madrid’s history in San Sebastian — but it did not seem to impact him.
Con El Capitan Vini (despues Luka, Lucas, Dani y Fede) y los Fotógrafos
pic.twitter.com/5iAFusbJ8X
— Eduardo Camavinga (@Camavinga) February 26, 2025
Before the game started, Vinicius decided to change sides to avoid the pressure of Real Sociedad’s loudest stand in the second half. That decision unleashed the fury of the Real Sociedad fans who whistled loudly — usually opposition teams do not switch sides.
Vinicius Jr did not react to being targeted as a result and focused on the game.
With a 4-4-2 defensive system, Vinicius and Endrick initially led the attack. However, on many occasions during the game, Vinicius covered for Jude Bellingham, who started in midfield. In both the 19th and 58th minutes Vinicius made recoveries and started Madrid’s counter-attacks.
He also added an interception and four out of 10 duels won, demonstrating his more supportive role.
Previously, some teammates had asked Vinicius to work harder in defence, like Luka Modric in the cup match against Leganes. But this time nobody reproached him.
Despite not scoring, Vinicius had an attacking presence as well and made one key pass and six of seven possible long passes. He was clearly influential — 46.7 per cent of play went down the left wing (to 23.3 per cent from the centre and 30 per cent from the right).
Vinicius was whistled off in the 84th minute and a fan was caught on camera a few minutes earlier making strange gestures that could be interpreted as racist. But despite this, Vinicius was happy after the game about his captaincy: “Hopefully I can continue like this for a long time. I’m going to reach 300 games played (for Madrid) in the next one, but I already want to (play) 400, 500… I want to make history at this club.”
Amid his negotiations to renew his current contract with Madrid (which expires in 2027), these statements take on even more value.
What happened with Raul Asencio?
“Asencio, die,” a section of the crowd chanted loudly against the Real Madrid player just before the end of the first half. The defender had previously heard the same insults at the stadiums of Athletic Bilbao, Girona and Osasuna.
However, this time when it happened, the on-field referee Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez decided to stop the match momentarily and activate the special anti-hate protocol.
The atmosphere in the Real Sociedad stadium had been very hostile and Asencio was shouted at every time he touched the ball.
After the shouting, Vinicius as captain informed the on-field referee of what was happening and he in turn informed the match security coordinator.
Subsequently, the stadium’s public address system broadcasted a message asking fans not to shout insults and included the incident in its match report.
Asencio (right) was taken off as a substitute at half-time (Ander Gillenia/AFP via Getty Images)
On 11 February, The Athletic reported that Asencio was still under investigation for allegedly sharing a sex tape of a minor and that a Spanish court had rejected an appeal to have him acquitted of the case.
Since then, the investigation has been ongoing and there have been no further developments.
At half-time, Asencio was replaced by Lucas Vazquez. “I took him off because he was affected and had a yellow card,” Ancelotti admitted later.
After injuries to key defensive players such as Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao, Asencio has become a very important player for Ancelotti.
In total, the home-grown defender has made 36 appearances for the first team, 34 of them as a centre-back. On Wednesday, he played at right-back and looked more uncomfortable than usual.
(Top photo: David Ramos/Getty Images)
