The most desired title

Athletic Club begin their participation in the Copa de la Reina on Tuesday at 7.00 pm at Lezama. The Lionesses will try to knock out UDG Tenerife in the round of sixteen in a competition that has eluded the Red and Whites so far.

In the last decade, Athletic have managed to get into two Copa de la Reina finals, both under Juan Luis Fuentes’ management, in 2012 and 2014. The first one was held at Las Rozas and the Lionesses fell 1-2 to Espanyol in overtime, a clash they ended with nine players on the pitch. In 2014, the contest was played in Ceuta and it was decided by an ill-fated penalty shoot-out that kept the Red and Whites away from the title.

Those have been the only two finals Athletic Club have reached since they started taking part in the cup competition in the 2002-03 season. In the first seven editions they participated in, they could not make it past the quarter-final stages (what was the first round back then), with the exception of 2004, when the competition was started from the semi-finals and only four teams competed in it. It was Sabadell who prevented them from getting a place in the final that year. Athletic club have never been knocked out in the round of sixteen, but they have fallen in the quarter-finals 11 times. In recent years, their best finish was in 2018, when they made it to the semifinals but were defeated by FC Barcelona.

In total, 38 fixtures have been played in the Copa de la Reina, and the statistics clearly show it has not turned out to be the best tournament for the Lionesses thus far: 10 wins, 8 draws and 20 losses.