Football between mines in San Mamés

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San Mamés did not decide anything in the second semi-final of the Cup. The face-to-face fight between Athletic and Valencia ended in a draw.

Nothing that was not planned before the start in view of what both teams usually offer.

The home team went ahead, the foreigner equalized and the suspense will continue until three weeks from now, when the two teams meet again.

Then it will be the definitive fight to reach the Cartuja final —in the other semifinal, Betis starts with an advantage after 1-2 against Rayo in Vallecas—.

ATHAthletic

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Julen Agirrezabala, Yeray (Daniel Vivian, min. 45), Yuri, Íñigo Martínez, Lekue, Muniain, Dani García (Oier Zarraga, min. 77), Vesga, Berenguer, Raúl García (O. Sancet, min. 66) and Williams (Villalibre, min. 77)

VALValencia

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Mamardashvili, Thierry Correia, Mouctar Diakhaby, Omar Alderete, Gayá (Lato, min. 83), Foulquier, Moriba Kourouma (Uros Racic, min. 94), Carlos Soler, Gonçalo Guedes (Yunus Musah, min. 74), Hugo Duro ( Marcos André, min. 93) and Bryan Gil Salvatierra (Hélder Costa, min. 83)

Goals

1-0 min.

36: Raul Garcia.

1-1 min.

64: Hugh Hard.

Yellow cards Foulquier (min. 42), Dani García (min. 62), Mouctar Diakhaby (min. 77) and Hugo Duro (min. 89)

Red cards Maxi Gómez (min. 47)

Athletic and Valencia approached the game as a battle and not as fun.

San Mamés was not an amusement park but the tractor factory in the Battle of Stalingrad.

The two teams felt the enemy at the gates.

Marcelino noticed it the day before.

Theirs would respond with the same weapons, and they did.

Valencia took to the field with the intention of planting mines and Athletic did not dedicate themselves to removing them, far from it.

He showed his face, trying to play with the same intensity, but putting more emphasis on trying to besiege Mamardashvili's goal, who was about to make a big mess in a transfer from Diakhaby that he could not control with his foot and went to a corner for very little.

The game got stuck from the beginning, the ball flew so many times that the television detail of not placing the aerial camera for once, which could have received a few balls, was appreciated.

The first part passed between endless protests and skirmishes.

After Hugo Duro's shot after five minutes, which went very high, the local concern was what Guedes and Bryan Gil proposed, but they were well covered.

to shock

With blows, Athletic approached the visiting goal from time to time.

Berenguer created a chance after stealing a ball that he gave to Iñaki Williams.

His dry shot was neutralized by Mamardashvili with the body.

It was half an hour later, when what Valencia wanted was happening, that is, nothing.

But it happened ten minutes later, in a lateral foul that Muniain took to the heart of the area, where the wasps stung.

Raúl García put his head there, almost at ground level, with the resources that a veteran possesses to overtake Athletic in the tie.

After the celebration the battle returned, there was no truce.

Rawer than before, rough as pumice stone.

There were no malicious actions, no kicks, but every attempt to pass was an ordeal.

Mounting a play required more paperwork than the collection of an inheritance.

The game couldn't have been more difficult.

Aesthetics was left aside, set aside by the interest of both to get closer to the final in Seville.

Athletic was not daunted by Valencia's proposal and the same thing happened to the contrary.

No one stopped putting the leg, or the head;

no one gave away a dispute, nor avoided a clash.

Without doing damage but without granting mercy to the opponent.

The first half ended in a melee, but things calmed down before entering the locker room.

And so the whole match.

Even more so since Valencia equalized in an action by Guedes who leaked a pass from the right that Bryan Gil finished off at close range.

Agirrezabala's save came to nothing because Hugo Duro was there to clinch in a way that was not very aesthetic but effective after all.

If before that goal the spaces were scarce, the visiting players multiplied from that moment to cover the ones that remained.

Athletic could not find the combination of the safe for many turns to the wheel trying to hear the click.

The Bordalás complex had been further armored.

The only emotion of the crash lay in the uncertainty of the result.

With Muniain deactivated in midfield, the runs of Berenguer and Yuri well covered on the flanks, Marcelino's team did not find the formula that would bring them a little closer to Cartuja, to what would be their third consecutive Cup final, after lose the previous two.

A ball that Muniain stole in the last minute provided the only red-and-white chance, but Diakhaby put his head in when Villalibre was trying to finish off, so Mestalla will resolve the duel of titans in the semifinal.

Without the slab of the double value of away goals, it all starts again in three weeks.

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