Valencia imposes a draw against Bilbao in the King’s Cup
Valencia tied with its host Athletic Bilbao (1-1), in the match that brought the two teams together today, Thursday evening, in the first leg of the semi-finals of the King’s Cup.
Raul Garcia opened the scoring for Athletic Bilbao, in the 37th minute, then Valencia equalized with a goal by Hugo Douro, in the 65th minute.
Watch the goals of the Valencia-Atlético Bilbao match
The two teams will meet again at the Valencia stadium, on the second of next March, and Real Betis will play Rayo Vallecano again, the next day in the same role.
The first leg match between Real Betis and Rayo Vallecano ended with the first win away from home (2/1), yesterday evening, Wednesday.
Valencia coach: We deserve a penalty against Bilbao
Valencia coach Jose Bordalas expressed his satisfaction with the 1-1 draw against Athletic Bilbao on Thursday evening in the King’s Cup semi-final first leg.
But he indicated that referee Jose Luis did not award a “clear” penalty to Hugo Doro, as well as a direct red card for Dani Garcia.
“The result is deserved, but we could have won if the referee awarded a penalty to Hugo Doro,” Bordalas said after the match. “We don’t hold the referee responsible, he did a great job, but we don’t understand why VAR didn’t intervene to review the game, as well as intervene on Carlos Soler, who deservedly Red Card” against Danny Garcia of Bilbao.
The coach expressed his hope that he would not “blame the team itself” in the end after these two incidents.
“The chances of each team are still 50% in the rematch. At the Mestalla stadium, the fans will stand with the team and there will be a great atmosphere like the one we saw today in San Mamés.”
The return match will be held on the second of next March, and the winner will face the winner of Real Betis and Rayo Vallecano.
