Rodrygo brace powers Real Madrid to lift 20th Copa del Rey title
Real Madrid clinched their 20th Copa del Rey title with a 2-1 victory over Osasuna in the final held in Seville, with Rodrygo scoring both goals for the Spanish giants.
The Brazilian forward found the back of the net for the winning goal from close range after reaching out to a deflected shot from Toni Kroos. Notably, this is the first time Real Madrid has won a Copa del Rey title since 2014.
Osasuna manager Jagoba Arrasate made nine changes to the side that lost 1-0 to Barcelona on Tuesday as Lucas Torro and Aimar Oroz were the only players to retain their positions in the much-changed side.
On the other hand, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti made five changes to the team that lost 2-0 to Real Sociedad almost handing over the La Liga title to Barcelona. Antonio Rudiger, Nacho, Dani Ceballos, Marco Asensio, and Mariano Diaz were replaced by David Alaba, Eduardo Camavinga, Federico Valverde, Vinicious Jr, and Karim Benzema.
Apart from Rodrygo, it was Vinicius Jr, who absolutely dominated the game. Vinicius played on the left and posed a consistent threat to the opposition. The Brazilian player was able to beat his marker where he passed the ball across the goal for Rodrygo to score the first goal of the match in the 106th second of the game.
Although Los Blancos had the early lead, it didn’t hamper Osasuna’s spirit as they produced a couple of chances to equalise in the first half. The biggest chance came in the 28th minute when Ez Abde stole the ball from Eder Militao and charged towards the goal. He managed to get past Courtois but Dani Carvajal cleared the ball off the line to save his side.
Another chance went begging for the defending La Liga champions when David Alaba’s brilliant free-kick hit the crossbar just 10 minutes before half-time as Los Blancos went into the interval with a slender 1-0 lead.
Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo won all possible trophies with Real Madrid at the age of 22
In the second half, Osasuna started brilliantly and scored a goal in the first 12 minutes through Torro’s shot from outside the box against his former club. Real Madrid had a great opportunity to regain the lead but Federico Valverde missed his volley from Benzema’s cross.
However, Vinicius Jr once again became the party spoiler for rival fans as he was able to set up the winning goal for Rodrygo in the 70th minute with a similar move down the left.
Osasuna’s final stretch almost resulted in an equaliser in stoppage time but Kike Barja’s side-footed shot was brilliantly blocked by Carvajal to deny Los Rojillos their first major trophy in their 103-year history.
The game had its share of heated moments as well. The tempers flared between players during the game and a fight in the tunnel was also caught on camera after the first half. Another incident that halted the play momentarily was due to a fire in the stands courtesy of a loose pyrotechnic and the stewards had to use a fire extinguisher to control the flames.
Despite the La Liga title looking out of reach for Real Madrid, Ancelloti will be focusing on the upcoming Champions League match against Manchester City in order to win the double and save his job in the Spanish capital.