It was the 79th minute of Madrid’s derby between Real and Atletico in the quarter-final of the Spanish Cup and everything was going smoothly for the guests. They were leading 1-0 courtesy of the ex-Real striker Morata’s goal, they had three good chances during the match, but….they didn’t finish off their opponents in time. And when you do that, you get punished by the Champions League winners and they end up winning in the end, no matter if it was deserved or not. And that’s how it panned out tonight. Real Madrid played poorly but turned the game over, won 3-1 in overtime and they are two wins away from a 20th cup win, as they are the third most successful Copa side, after Barcelona (31) and Athletic Club (23).3 – @Benzema has scored the last three @realmadriden’s goals in a extra-time period in any competition (the other two came against Chelsea and Manchester City in Champions League 2021/2022). Specialist. pic.twitter.com/PHpTLlrjYU— OptaJose (@OptaJose) January 26, 2023 Atletico played better, Cholo Simone was not defensive as usual and fielded Lemar, Griezmann, Correa, and Morata at Santiago Bernabeu, and it looked good, but they didn’t use their chances. And when it mattered the most, Real came up with a spectacular individual effort from Rodrygo who tied the game, before Benzema (who else) and Vinicius Jr. scored two more goals in extra time for a convincing win.Koke’s beautiful ball that led to Molina’s assist for Morata’s goal. Beautiful from our captain. 😍pic.twitter.com/bE4zZZJ9oY— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) January 26, 2023 The first half was not pretty interesting but Atletico came as winners, both in display and in goals. They played almost a perfect game, while Real didn’t press them enough at all. They didn’t even have a decent chance and had only one shot on target. Real also had problems with injuries as Alaba was pulled out just before the game, Mendy got hurt during the first 45 minutes and Camavinga was forced to play the left back. On the other side, Atletico played well and they scored from their big chance. Griezmann played a ball square for Koke who lofted over the defense for Molina and his first-time ball was on a plate for Morata to turn home.Real woke up and came out of the tunnel flying. Benzema had two good chances but Oblak saved one, while Hermoso blocked the other one. But even in the second half Atletico had better chances as Griezmann smashed the free kick which was heading just under the crossbar, but the mighty Courtois pushed the ball away. Witzel had a great header minutes later but the ball went just wide off the target. De Paul also had a good chance, but it was Rodrygo’s magnificent solo effort that got the (un)deserved equalizer in the 80th minute. The Brazilian did it all, he had the touch, the dribble, and the precise shot, everything, and sent the game into overtime. And in overtime, Real made sure that the winner was determined before the penalty shootout. Atletico’s defender Stefan Savić helped them with a second yellow card and they used this gift and turned the game around completely with Benzema’s winner Vinicius Jr. just took vengeance for the racist chants and scored another one in injury time for the final 3-1.COPA DEL REYQuarter-finalsWednesdayBarcelona – Sociedad 1-0 (0-0)/Dembele 52/Osasuna – Sevilla 2-1 (0-0) AET/Avila 71, Ezzalzoui 99 – El-Nesyiri 90+4/ThursdayValencia – Ath.Bilbao 1-3 (1-2)/Marcos (og) 43 – Muniain 35, Williams 45,Vesga 74/Real Madrid – Atl.Madrid 3-1 (1-1) AET/Rodrygo 79, Benzema 104, Vinicius 120+1 – Morata 19/
