Athletic Club - RCD Mallorca

The Copa is ours again. "Kopa da gurea". The 25th. The one we had to wait so long for. Ernesto Valverde's Lions lifted the trophy after a heart-stopping final against RCD Mallorca, which was decided via penalty shoot-out after a 1-1 draw. Athletic won the shoot-out 4-2, with Julen Agirrezabala the star and Alex Berenguer scoring the final penalty.

On Thursday, La Gabarra will finally set sail again, as a tribute to this super-team, which has already secured a place in the Europa League and will now be gunning for a spot in the Champions league.

A victory for a fantastic fan base. Oihan Sancet scored in the second half to cancel out Dani Rodriguez's opener, while Julen Agirrezabala emerged with a superb save in extra time and more of the same in the penalty shoot-out. Raúl García, Iker Muniain, Mikel Vesga and Berenguer made it a full house.

Under an incredible atmosphere in Seville, which was taken over by Athletic fans, the match started with a lot of nerves.

Valverde's side threatened first, with Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta's left-footed shot being turned behind for a corner by Dominik Greif. Vedat Muriqi responded at the other end with Agirrezabala pushing his effort wide.

The Zurigorri were stunned in the 20th minute when Dani Rodriguez scored after  picking up a loose ball in the box. It wasn't ideal, but there was still a world to play for.

Gorka Guruzeta tested Greif and in the 39th minute, Nico Williams had a goal ruled out for offside after a one-two with Yuri. Nico then had another chance to restore parity. The Lions were on the up, but half-time arrived.

Straight after the restart, Julen denied Cyle Larin. Athletic then went on the attack and equalised in the 50th minute as Sancet finished from a Nico through ball. The Athleticzales at La Cartuja went wild.

And then Los Leones began to throttle Los Bermellones. Iñaki almost put the game to bed after another great move by his brother. It seemed that Athletic wanted it more, but Mallorca held on to the game as a worthy rival. 

Expect a big party in Bilbao. Ernesto Valverde, our number 1 in matches, has led us to a great feat.