Real Sociedad aim to continue making history
The Basque side are looking to reach the final of the Copa del Rey again four years after winning the title at the Estadio de La Cartuja (Seville) against Athletic Club (0-1).
Real Sociedad are just one step away from returning to a Copa del Rey final. The team coached by Imanol Alguacil is facing its third cup semi-final in the last decade.
In the 2013/2014 season, the team led by Jagoba Arrasate and with stars like Griezmann, Carlos Vela, Xabi Prieto, 'Chory' Castro or Seferović on the pitch, lost their hopes of success in the second leg of the semi-final after drawing at Camp Nou against FC Barcelona under 'Tata' Martino.
In the 2019/2020 campaign, Txuri Urdin’s side reached the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey once again after beating Villarreal CF (4-2) in the quarter-finals. Real Sociedad beat CD Mirandés 2-1 at the Reale Arena with goals from Oyarzabal and Ødegaard and 0-1 at Anduva with a goal from Oyarzabal. In the final, initially scheduled for 18 April 2020 but which ended up being played almost a year later - on 3 April 2021 - due to the coronavirus pandemic, a goal from eleven yards by Mikel Oyarzabal handed the title to a Real Sociedad that reached the stars 34 years after its last cup title - in the 1986/1987 season, with John Benjamin Toshack on the bench, after defeating Atlético de Madrid on penalties following a 2-2 draw at the end of a match in which López Ufarte, Txiki Begiristain and Luis Miguel Arconada were heroes with their goals and saves.
After lifting the Cup into the Seville sky with tears of joy, Mikel Oyarzabal pointed the way for a Real Sociedad that, every year since, has gone from strength to strength,: "We want to continue making history and for this to be the beginning of the road" he said at the time and has made come true since. Just three years later, his Real Sociedad is just one step away from continuing to make more history.
In this year's Copa del Rey, the San Sebastian outfit have so far beaten CD Buñol (0-1; Carlos Fernández), CE Andratx (0-1; André Silva), Málaga CF (0-1; Einar Galilea own goal), CA Osasuna (0-2; Oyarzabal and Mikel Merino) and RC Celta de Vigo (1-2; Oyarzabal and Sheraldo Becker). RCD Mallorca will be the last hurdle for the Guipuzcoans before reaching the final on 6 April 2024 at the Estadio de La Cartuja in Seville.