Copa del Rey: Athletic Bilbao held by Valencia in 1st leg of semi-finals, Betis rally to beat Vallecano

Trying to make it to their third straight Copa del Rey final, Athletic Bilbao were held to a 1-1 draw at home against Valencia in the first leg of the semi-finals on Thursday.

Raúl García opened the scoring for the hosts with a header off a free kick by Iker Muniain in the 37th minute, but Valencia equalized in the 65th with a goal from close range by Hugo Duro off the rebound of a shot by Bryan Gil.

The second leg will be on 2 March at Valencia’s Mestalla Stadium. Real Betis rallied to a 2-1 win at Rayo Vallecano in the first leg of the other semi-final on Wednesday.

Athletic lost to Basque Country rival Real Sociedad in the final in 2020 and to Barcelona in the decider last season. They are the competition’s second most successful club with 23 titles, behind Barcelona’s 31, but they haven’t lifted the trophy since 1984.

Athletic are one of the hottest teams in Spain recently under coach Marcelino García Toral, having eliminated Barcelona in the Copa’s last 16 and Real Madrid in the quarter-finals. They are unbeaten in five matches in all competitions, with their last loss against Madrid in the final of the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, after they eliminated Spanish champion Atlético Madrid in the semi-finals.

Athletic were outplayed by Valencia at the beginning of Thursday’s match at San Mamés Stadium but gradually regained control and were the most dangerous team the rest of the match, though they were unable to capitalize on the scoring chances.

Athletic sit eighth in the Spanish league, three spots ahead of Valencia, who are trying to return to the Copa final after winning their eighth title in the competition in 2019.

Valencia had won their last three Copa matches but were winless in their last five in the Spanish league.

The visitors loudly complained of a penalty not given after a breakaway in the final minutes.

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