Basque Country battle: Real Sociedad face Athletic Bilbao in Copa del Rey final

After a delay of nearly a year as the clubs hoped for an easing of Covid-19 restrictions, derby clash finally takes place in Sevilla

Athletic Bilbao's Inaki Williams celebrates after scoring the winner against Barcelona during the Copa del Rey quarter-final at the San Mames Stadium in February 2020. EPA

Barcelona's Lionel Messi after Inaki Williams scored for Bilbao. AFP

Barcelona players at the end of their 1-0 Copa del Rey quarter final defeat against Athletic Bilbao. AP

Athletic Bilbao players celebrate their win. AFP

Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper Unai Simon makes a save. AP

Barcelona attacker Lionel Messi is tackled by Athletic Bilbao's Dani Garcia. AP

Barcelona's Antoine Griezmannargues with the linesman. AP

Athletic club president Aitor Elizegi, right, and Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu, centre, before the quarter-final. EPA

Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong fights for the ball with Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper Unai Simon. AP

Barcelona manager Quique Setien, left, hugs Athletic Bilbao counterpart Gaizka Garitano. AFP

It is a Cup final scenario that will never be repeated. It is a once-in-a-century collision of fierce local rivals, yet, for one of them, showpiece finals seem to happen every few weeks.

Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad would be forgiven for feeling disorientated at how an upended calendar has affected on their big day. The two biggest clubs from Spain’s Basque Country contest a Copa del Rey final on Saturday in Seville, about as far away from their hometowns as it is possible to go and still be in Spain.

When they reached the final, Athletic defeated Barcelona and La Real knocked-out Real Madrid in the quarter-finals along the way, they envisaged a long exuberant, cross-country road trip for their supporters.

But that was back in March last year. As it turned out, the semi-finals of the 2020 Copa del Rey were some of the very last games to be played in front of full stadiums, before Covid-sensitive restrictions came in.

Athletic and La Real agreed to delay their final beyond the resumption of football in June, and even beyond the start of the 2020-21 season, in the hope that public health conditions would improve enough that they could have fans present for the most resonant derby in a lifetime.

But the clubs and the Spanish authorities could only wait so long. Saturday is now the designated date for a match that was supposed to take place 50 weekends ago. Athletic especially feel the urgency of one season shunting into another. They have also reached the final of the 2021 Copa del Rey, where they confront Barcelona on April 17th.

Indeed, they are entitled to regard themselves as Spain's Cup kings. In January they won the Spanish Super Cup, a four-team mini-tournament, taken very seriously by those involved. Athletic beat Real Madrid in their semi and Barca in the final.

“In shorter competitions, we’re a powerful team,” says Marcelino Garcia Toral, the Athletic manager, adding “we want that to be the case in La Liga as well. We haven’t been as consistent as we wanted.”

In fact, Marcelino owes his chance to collect all this sudden silverware to Athletic’s irregular form this season. His predecessor, Gaizka Garitano, was sacked just before the Super Cup tournament, with the club ninth in the table. They are still ninth, five places beneath Sociedad.

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Gallery: Sociedad by Real Madrid in Copa del Rey quarter-finals

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Should they win on Saturday, Garitano will be acknowledged, as will the Athletic icon Aritz Aduriz, who played the penultimate match of his 405 for the club in last season’s Cup semi-final, before retiring, aged 39. But this being Athletic, there are few major changes from last season’s squad: transfer policy at the club is, uniquely, built around a guiding principle that anybody wearing Athletic’s jersey must be connected to the Basque region, either by birth or by family connections.

It means a highly developed local scouting and development system, which sometimes irritates local rivals, who know that Athletic are bound to have an acquisitive eye on any home-grown talents they might be cultivating.

When Inigo Martinez, the Spain international defender, controversially joined Athletic from Sociedad three years ago, the club he had quit offered fans who had Martinez replica jerseys a free replacement, with any other La Real player’s name on it.

Athletic would point out that when La Real lose a key player, they can simply go and find replacements from anywhere in the world, because they do not have Athletic’s dogmatic adherence to only fielding locals.

La Real, from San Sebastian, like to have a strong core of Basque players, but were grateful to a Swede, Alexander Isak, and a Dane, the on-loan Martin Odegaard, for galvanising their 2019-20 Cup run. Isak is still there, and still a potent goalscorer. Odegaard, owned by Real Madrid, is now on loan at Arsenal.

His replacement is able enough, though. He is David Silva, who joined la Real last summer after a dazzling decade at Manchester City and has been hugely influential: In the 17 Liga games he has played, he has been on the losing side just twice; when Silva has been absent, for fitness reasons, La Real have won just one of eleven.

A chance to add another trophy to his ample collection is a bonus for Silva, who has been recuperating from injury but expects to be ready for Saturday.

“I’m excited about it,” he said, “and I can see the excitement around the city and among my teammates. For some of the younger players, it’s a first opportunity [to win a trophy]. I would just say to them – enjoy it and give your best.”

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Gallery: Bilbao beat Barca in Spanish Super Cup