Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid, 2013 Copa del Rey final: Atleti earn upset win

Atletico Madrid responded positively and had a couple of half-chances in the immediate aftermath of the goal. They went on to find their equalizer in the 35th minute, on an excellent counter attack. Radamel Falcao stepped up to pick up the ball near the halfway line and was closed down by Raul Albiol, who couldn’t get the ball off him. Falcao beat him twice before playing a through ball to Diego Costa, who had started his run early, catching out the rest of the Madrid defense. His shot was well-placed, but Diego Lopez could have done a lot better to stop it from rolling past him to level the score at 1-1.

Just before the stroke of halftime, Mesut Özil hit the post for Madrid with a fantastic volley. From 25 yards out, he hit a strike that swerved after bouncing off the turf in the box, then struck the upright to the left of Courtois. It would be one of three unlucky strikes of the post on the night for Madrid.

A goal from an unlikely source has Atletico Madrid 15 minutes away from the Copa del Rey title and their first victory over their city rivals Real Madrid in nearly fourteen years.

Diego Costa came ever so close to giving Atletico a lead in the 95th minute making a fantastic run on the right and splitting the Madrid defense as he ran onto a perfectly placed ball from Koke. Despite being basically one-on-one with Diego Lopez, Costa couldn’t score, mis-hitting his chance allowing the Madrid goalkeeper to make a save.

Madrid were denied a potential winner twice in the second half when Cristiano Ronaldo hit the post on a shot from open play and a free kick. Atletico defender Juanfran also cleared a shot from Mesut Özil off the line.

We will now head to extra time and play an additional 30 minutes of soccer, broken into two 15 minutes halves. There is no golden goal rule in extra time, so no matter how many goals are scored, the two teams will complete the full time.

Real Madrid might be starting to think that the fates are against them after yet another goal was denied by the post. There are 15 minutes left in regular time and the game remains tied at 1-1.

Madrid’s frustration began to show as the match reached the 75th minute as Özil was booked for slapping the ball in the at the linesman after he disagreed with a decision.

After an exciting end to the first half it appeared that both sides lost their mojo at halftime as the game once against slowed down and lost all the energy we’d seen before the break. Atletico did appear to be the slightly better side in the opening 15 minutes of the half, but things remained tied.

In a near repeat of the first half it took a good five minutes for either team to finally generate a chance. This time it was Atletico through a run down the left wing by Filipe Luis. The chance looked like it would be far more dangerous than it ended up being thanks to Luis scuffing the shot, creating a fairly easily save for Diego Lopez.

We’re tied 1-1 at halftime in the Copa del Rey final after Atletico Madrid and Diego score late to answer Cristiano Ronaldo’s early strike.

Just when it appeared that Madrid were settling in and controlling the match, Atletico struck thanks to their dynamic attacking duo of Diego Costa and Radamel Falcao.

Diego Costa and Radamel Falcao combined for a bit of wizardry with ten minutes until halftime to pull Atletico Madrid even at 1-1, injecting some life into what had been a fairly dull affiar.

Radamel Falcao did a tremendous bit on individual effort in the midfield taking control of the ball and fighting off several tackle attempts from Raúl Albiol before somehow spotting Costa who was streaking through the middle of the Madrid defense. Falcao’s pass was perfect and Costa got off a shot that cut back to the right as his momentum pulled him left, sending the ball just past Diego Lopez.

While Essien and Albiol had that one error, Madrid’s defending has been good as a whole. Atletico Madrid don’t have a lot of ideas. It might take a fluke for the underdogs to score and get back into this game.

Ronaldo did the damage in the 14th minute off the corner, towering over Diego Godín who appeared stuck in place, and heading the ball to the left side of the goal and past Courtois. Great start for Madrid and a likely big psychological blow for Atletico who will start thinking about their consistent failures against their city rivals.

Pepe remains dropped from the squad after his public spat with Jose Mourinho and Ricardo Carvalho makes the bench ahead of the Brazilian defender.

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Atletico Madrid sat ahead of their cross-city rivals in the table for much of the season, but Los Merengues caught up, and deservedly so. Madrid’s biggest club is now nine points and a staggering 27 goals ahead of their opponents, whose league season effectively ended when they lost 2-1 to Real at the Vicente Calderon on April 27.

Both teams have two games left to play, but literally nothing to play for. They’re both out of Europe and without a trophy, so this is without question the biggest game of each team’s season and effectively the end of their season as well, as disappointing as those facts are for Real Madrid.