Betis, seventeen years after their last title (2005), once again achieved glory by proclaiming themselves champions of the 2022 Copa del Rey and achieving their third crown by beating Valencia on penalties, with a decisive shot by the youth squad Juan Miranda, after a final that ended 1-1 in regulation time and in extra time.
Miranda converted the decisive penalty (5-4) after Valencia’s American midfielder Yunus Musah missed the only shot of the shootout, which unleashed euphoria in Beticismo, after many years of drought and a very even final and competitive, in which the disappointment was for the Valencian side.
Two historic figures of Spanish football were measured in La Cartuja, both with urgency to touch the glory, since Betis had been seventeen years without playing a final or winning a title (the last in 2005) and Valencia, after a very irregular season and far from the European zone, he entrusted everything to this final to fix a convulsive course again.
The Betis were looking for their third Cup title, in their fifth final; and the Valencianists, the tenth in the eighteenth, and both coaches, the Chilean Manuel Pellegrini and José Bordalás, with two very different playing styles and philosophies, lined up their gala elevens, with six changes at Betis compared to their last game in the League and up to ten in Valencia, where only Carlos Soler repeated.
Pellegrini opted for the final by his compatriot Claudio Bravo in goal, instead of the Portuguese Rui Silva; on the wings Héctor Bellerín and Álex Moreno; and the Argentine Guido Rodríguez and the Portuguese William Carvalho in the middle; in addition to his scorer Borja Iglesias, instead of the Brazilian Willian José, as news.
Bordalás, for his part, returned to his most recognizable team with ten changes compared to the one he lost 2-0 last Tuesday at Villarreal in LaLiga, with Soler as the survivor and with an attack made up of the Portuguese Gonçalo Guedes and Hugo Duro, in addition to recover Paulista for the rear, after two weeks injured.
Betis started better, much better, with their touch football and prevailing over the rival handling the ball well, which soon paid off, after 11 minutes, with a golden Borja Iglesias header, only in the area and in an oversight of the behind che, a cross from the right by Héctor Bellerín after a good opening to his band by the Frenchman Nabil Fekir.
The intensity presided over the game, with Betis very active in this first section, despite the fact that their main figures, the talented Fekir and Sergio Canales, did not finish appearing, although they made up for it with the rise of their sides, especially Álex Dark.
Valencia, against the current, was not daunted either. Although Juanmi, from Betis, had a good option on the edge of the equator in this half and headed a good cross from the left, Bordalás’ team recovered and reacted well to the hard blow received, to the point of complicating things for Pellegrini’s team .
His determination, knowing what was at stake and facing the more temporizing attitude of the Verdiblancos, paid off after half an hour, when a quick counter well conducted by Ilaix Moriba, a lung in the middle of Valencia, ended in a pass in depth of the Guinean to Hugo Duro, who, with a subtle touch, beat Chilean Bravo from above and made it 1-1.
In the last quarter of an hour, the Betis tried to recover, to find their game, something that was difficult for them to find due to the good pressure from the Levantines, although Canales had a good chance to unbalance the score again two minutes before the break.
After the restart, Valencia took a step forward, it seemed to come out fresher than a Betis in which its most unbalanced men, Canales, Fekir and Juanmi, barely appeared, with Borja Iglesias fighting too much alone with the crowded Valencian defense.
Bordalás’ team, brave and less corseted at the start of the second half, came close to scoring in the 51st minute, but Hugo Duro’s shot, after collecting a shot from Gayá after a connection with Gonçalo Guedes, cleared it, providentially, Claudio Bravo.
Pellegrini’s team, who, based on possession and offensive drive, tried by all means to overcome the well-established Valencian defense and pressed again in a phase in which the game became frenetic, but neither Juanmi nor Canales, now more active, they took advantage of their options halfway through the second half.
Valencia tried to steal some ball to scare Betis, but it was Betis that was closest to the goal with a shot by Juanmi, then replaced by the veteran Joaquín, to the right post by Giorgi Mamardashvili with 12 left and two by Fekir and Borja Iglesias, also solved perfectly by the Georgian.
He replied for Carlos Soler’s team, after a counterattack almost at the end by Bryan Gil, who had entered as a refresher, but the Chilean Claudio Bravo, always very solvent, except for his team, which gave way to extra time after 90 very intense and with alternatives.
In it, no one risked, all fearful of spoiling all the effort from before, although the ex-Valencianista Joaquín, much fresher, just like the recently released Guardado and Willian José, tried some incursion without success. Meanwhile, Valencia, with the entry of Musah by Foulquier, defended more than they attacked.
The pressure was palpable and no one wanted to lose, which increased in the second part of extra time, so that, despite the skirmishes between one and the other and with Pellegrini’s changes, by putting in Miranda, Tello and Aitor Ruibal by Álex Moreno, Canales and Fekir, who left exhausted, a penalty shoot-out was reached in which Betis triumphed to lead their fans to glory, seventeen years later. (D)
Source: Eluniverso
Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
