Real Sociedad Vs Athletic Club — Semi-final second leg as an inflection point

The Copa del Rey tie real sociedad vs athletic club arrives at a defining moment: Real Sociedad carry a 1-0 advantage from the first leg and host the return match tasked with converting a narrow lead into a place in the final.

What Happens Next in the Copa del Rey semi-final?

The tie is finely poised after a 1-0 first leg at San Mamés, where Benat Turrientes scored in the 62nd minute. A second-leg win or draw for Real Sociedad will send them through to the final, where they would face either Atletico Madrid or Barcelona. Real Sociedad enter the match off a 1-0 league win over Mallorca and sit eighth in La Liga, five points off the top six. Athletic arrive off a 1-1 draw with Rayo Vallecano, having taken seven points from their last three league fixtures and remaining unbeaten in La Liga since January 24; they sit ninth with 35 points from 26 matches, also five points off the top six.

Real Sociedad Vs Athletic Club: Can the home streak be extended?

Opta’s data shows Real Sociedad are unbeaten at home against Athletic in their last nine encounters across all competitions, a sequence made up of six wins and three draws. Avoiding defeat in this second leg would extend that run beyond the nine-match mark and would represent the best unbeaten home streak against Athletic in the last 43 years, improving on the nine-match sequence recorded between 1991 and 2000. In Copa del Rey history the clubs have met 14 times: Real Sociedad hold six wins to Athletic’s five in that head-to-head, and four of the last five Copa encounters have gone the way of the White and Blues. Athletic, meanwhile, remain the competition’s second-most successful club overall with 24 Copa victories; their last triumph in the tournament came in 2023-24, which was their first since 1983-84.

Who is set to miss or start?

• Real Sociedad absentees and doubts: Takefusa Kubo is ruled out with a hamstring problem; Alvaro Odriozola and Inaki Ruperez are also unavailable. Benat Turrientes, the first-leg matchwinner, is expected to start. Orri Oskarsson is an injury doubt; Carlos Soler is likely to be selected to support Mikel Oyarzabal in the final third.
• Athletic Bilbao absentees and doubts: Unai Eguiluz and Yeray Alvarez will miss the return leg. Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta, Maroan Sannadi, Nico Williams and Benat Prados are listed as major doubts.

Real Sociedad’s recent cup pedigree includes three Copa del Rey wins overall, with their last success in the tournament coming in 2019-20 when they beat Athletic in the final. Athletic have not beaten Real Sociedad in the Copa since February 1982 and are winless in each of their last four Basque derbies, placing additional historical pressure on the visitors.

With a narrow aggregate margin and several key absences on both sides, the second leg will hinge on match management and whether Real Sociedad can leverage home form and the psychological edge of recent results. For Athletic, the task is to overturn a single-goal deficit while managing ongoing injury concerns and sustaining the momentum that has produced seven points from their last three league matches. The Copa del Rey semi-final remains finely balanced, and the outcome of real sociedad vs athletic club will decide which Basque side reaches the final.