The ebb and flow of the opening ten minutes at San Mamés pointed towards a repeat of the previous encounters between Athletic Club Bilbao and Málaga, with plenty of intensity, but also very even between the two sides, battling for a place in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey.
The determination was there from both teams, but the precision wasn’t, until urged on by the din of noise from their fans, Athletic began to take a step forward. In the 16th minute it was their main man Aduriz with the first clear chance of the game, getting in a good position following a dangerous cross from Muniain on the left, but with the striker unable to make a clean connection. The next opportunity followed barely a moment later though, De Marcos drilling a stinging shot that seemed destined to ripple the back of the net, only to be denied by the acrobatics of Málaga keeper Ochoa.
Málaga duly responded however, building a spell of their own pressure and earning a corner. From the set-piece Angeleri rising highest to plant a header towards goal, but to his dismay, the ball took enough of a glancing deflection to send it just wide for another corner. After a temporary lull in goal mouth action, as the two sides tussled for control in midfield, Athetic threatened and in the 33rd minute, Aduriz had the ball in the back of the net. The cheers from the crowd were swiftly muted however, as it was correctly ruled out, due to Susaeta straying into an offside position and interfering with play.
From there and heading into the final stretch of the half, the physical side of the game would hold sway, as Antunes and Amrabat both collected the first bookings of the encounter, a little too forceful and heavy with their challenges for the liking of the referee. There was no real harm done to the Athletic players and they ended the half looking the most likely to make a breakthrough, as Muniain latched onto a swift counter, cut inside well and struck for goal spotting Ochoa off his line, but whizzed the finish just beyond the frame of goal.
Whilst Málaga looked to threaten after the interval, within minutes of the restart it was Athletic who took the lead. A counter attack that started with keeper Herrerín, was industriously carried forward by Beñat, who slipped the ball for Susaeta to fire into the area and concluded withAduriz appearing at the right time to fire home. A perfect move involving four players and advantage Athletic.
Within just five minutes, Málaga also had the ball in the back of the net, as Javi Guerra struck in the finish, but Juanmi was judged to be offside by the match officials, much to the dismay of the visitors. Moments later they could also have been dead and buried, attacking as could be expected, but leaving too much open. Athletic attacked well, Ochoa fumbled trying to gather a cross, but reacted in the nick of time to deny De Marcos scoring.
As the game rolled past the hour mark, San José rising well to get his head on a lovely cross from Beñat, but over the crossbar. Málaga needed a reaction and from the bench came a double change in the 65th minute, as Samuel and Castillejo replaced Horta and Juanmi. Once more though it was Athletic who came closest to scoring as the game continued, but neither Laporte or De Marcos could make the most of balls into area.
After Camacho fired the closest effort of the half just beyond the post for Málaga in the 71st minute, Athletic followed that with their first change of the game, as Mikel Rico came on for De Marcos. Still trying to throw caution to the wind and attack, albeit without much success against the solidity of the Athletic defence, Málaga made their final change in the 79th minute, opting to send on Duda for Recio.
Málaga attacked and attacked into the final ten minutes, but still couldn’t gain anything more than corners, though they couldn’t make the most of those set-piece, whilst Athletic made their second switch, with Iturraspe on as Beñat left the pitch to an ovation from the home fans. Tempers frayed as the game headed into stoppage time. Samuel collected a yellow, whilst Camacho and Laporte received the same as they squared up to one another. Mikel Rico also took one for the team, fouling to deny Málaga a break on the counter. Valverde left his final change to the 92nd minute, happy to waste valuable seconds, replacing Muniain with Ibai Gómez, who didn’t touch the ball by the time the final whistle blew a matter of seconds later.
After just over 120 minutes of battles between the two sides, it was Athletic who won the war, earning their place in the semi-finals against Espanyol and denying Málaga the chance of what would have been a historic second appearance for them.