Match Pack: Athletic Club vs Real Sociedad (Copa semi-final, 1st leg)

Athletic Club will need to overcome Real Sociedad if we are to reach this season's Copa del Rey final. The stakes don't come much higher than those of Wednesday night: a semi-final first leg and a Basque Derby in Bilbao.

The atmosphere at San Mames will be electric as the Athleticzales in attendance attempt to give Ernesto Valverde's Lions an edge before the return fixture in early March.

 

Match Info

Athletic Club vs Real Sociedad

San Mames, Bilbao

Copa del Rey 2025/26 (Semi-final, first leg)

Wednesday February 11, 21:00 CET

Tickets can be purchased via this link.  
 

 

Team News

Ernesto Valverde has named a 22-man squad for Wednesday's Copa derby in Bilbao. 

Maroan, Beñat Prados, Dani Vivian, Yuri Berchiche and Oihan Sancet are out injured. Aitor Paredes is out suspended.

Centre-backs Iker Monreal and Aimar Duñabeitia has been called up from Bilbao Athletic as cover.
 

 

Valverde's Comments

Ernesto is expecting a tough match and "a great atmosphere at San Mames".

Catch up with everything the gaffer had to say at his pre-match press conference.  
 

🏆 "The Copa is a source of motivation for all of us.”

🫡 “They'll be two tense, special derbies. Tomorrow is the first hurdle and we'll need to be focused.”

🎙️ Ernesto Valverde previews #AthleticRealSociedad#AthleticClub 🦁 pic.twitter.com/Je5lEWdHdn

— Athletic Club (@Athletic_en) February 10, 2026

 

The Opponents

Check out all our previous matches against Real Sociedad. 
 

2025/26 Copa so far

La Real have come through some tough ties to make it to this stage of the competition. They kicked of their campaign with a 0-3 win over SD Negeira in the opening round and followed that up with a 0-2 victory against Reus FCR at the next hurdle.

It took a stoppage time goal to defeat CD Eldense 1-2 in the round of 32, while they knocked out CA Osasuna on penalties in the last 16.

The Donostia-based outfit defeated fellow Basques Deportivo Alaves 2-3 in a quarter-final thriller. Real Sociedad had been 2-1 down, but scored twice in the closing stages to book their place in the semi-finals.

 

Previous Meetings

Athletic and Real Sociedad have met 19 times before in the Copa del Rey, going all the way back to the 1922/23 season. From 19 matches, we've won eight, drawn six and lost five.

We've already faced each other twice in LaLiga 2025/26. The first match was a close 3-2 loss at Anoeta, while we drew 1-1 at San Mames at the beginning of the month.
 

 

How to Watch

Check out our global TV guide to make sure you don't miss the match. 

You can also follow the fixture, and keep up to date with everything Athletic related, through the official Athletic Club app, as well as on our website and social media accounts:

Twitter

Basque: @Athletic_eus

English: @Athletic_en

Spanish: @AthleticClub

Facebook

www.facebook.com/ATHLETICCLUB/ (Spanish + Basque)

Instagram

@athleticclub (Spanish + Basque)

Website

Basque: www.athletic-club.eus/eu/

English: www.athletic-club.eus/en/

Spanish: www.athletic-club.eus/