Spanish side Real Betis beat Valencia 5-4 on penalties to lift the Copa Del Rey title on Sunday after teenager Yunus Musah failed to convert his penalty in the shootout. He was the only player who missed the spot kick on the night.
To the delight of Betis fans, the United States midfielder, who came on as a substitute, sent the ball high over Claudio Bravo’s goal. It was Betis’ third Copa del Rey title, ending the club’s 17-year wait for a major trophy.
“This is what we wanted, to win the Copa del Rey again,” said Betis’ 40-year-old captain Joaquín Sánchez, who did convert his spot kick in the shootout and received the trophy from Spain’s King Felipe VI.
The Betis fan favourite then performed some sweeps with a bullfighting cape for the green-clad section of 53,000 spectators who packed the stands at Seville’s Estadio La Cartuja.
The final was a tense battle in which both teams dominated for long stretches.
Borja Iglesias’ header in the 11th minute gave Manuel Pellegrini’s Betis the lead. Iglesias led Betis’ attack all night. Sergio Canales and Juanmi Jiménez both hit the post, and Valencia relied on goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili to deny Nabil Fekir and Iglesias in the final minutes of regulation.
Depending on their counter attacking play, Valencia did convert their chance in the 30th minute when Hugo Duro chipped the ball over goalkeeper Bravo after receiving the ball from Ilaix Moriba.
The score remained at 1-1 after full time and another 30 minutes as a result of a few tired legs out there.
Valencia who was hoping to add to its collection of eight cups, couldn’t come out as winners even after scoring four spot kicks taken by Carlos Soler, Uros Racic, Goncalo Guedes and José Gayà.