Athletic Club - Real Sociedad

Athletic Club fell to a 0-1 defeat against Real Sociedad at San Mames in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final. The loss came in front of more than 51,000 spectators who tried to help the Lions on a difficult night.

Pellegrino Matarazzo's side were superior and could have done more damage. The good news for Ernesto Valverde's team is that they're only one goal down and there are three weeks to go until the second leg at Anoeta.

The Bilbao side came out firing and set the pace early on, having the first major chance.

Iñigo Lekue beat his defender with a nutmeg and crossed to Gorka Guruzeta, but Alex Remiro saved the forward's header. However, Real Sociedad immediately had an even clearer chance. Pablo Marín broke through and went one-v-one with the in-form Alex Padilla, who made the first of two great saves of the night.

Just like in the recent league match, Valverde's team suffered from set pieces. They gave la Real several opportunities, one from Jon Martín that hit the post and another from Duje Caleta-Çar that hit Aymeric Laporte's arm.

After reviewing the incident, the referee ruled that it was not a penalty, explaining that Laporte's arm was close to his body.

Robert Navarro and Iñaki Williams troubled Remiro with a couple of shots, but the goalkeeper saved them without any problems.

The second half started even worse. Padilla made a spectacular save from Mikel Oyarzabal early on. A goal seemed inevitable.

Valverde made four changes and there was an initial reaction, but Real Sociedad scored the winning goal after a loss of possession in midfield that set Gonçalo Guedes in motion and the Portuguese winger set up Beñat Turrientes to score from close range.

Athletic did not give up and Nico Williams went close to equalising on two occasions. In the end, the Lions ran out of time.

Now we need to focus on Real Oviedo, forget this disappointment game and give it our all at Anoeta on 4 March.

The Lions aren't dead and buried yet.