Real Sociedad boss Imanol Alguacil has spoken of a tremendous pain after being knocked out of the Copa del Rey on penalties by Real Mallorca, just one step shy of the final. After a 1-1 draw, involving a goal-line clearance, and a missed penalty from Brais Mendez, captain Mikel Oyarzabal saw his penalty saved by Dominik Greif in the shoot-out, which was ultimately the difference.
“We are very annoyed and it is very difficult to digest, but we are professionals and we have objectives. We want to re-enter Europe. Now we are all destroyed after this defeat, but it is time to reset and grieve. We have tremendous pain because we wanted to play the final with our fans. It was not to be,” Alguacil told Relevo.
In terms of the penalties themselves, Alguacil saw no issues with their preparation, and preferred to focus on the collective issues rather than the individual mistakes.
“They were prepared. The choice of who to start and who to continue was theirs, but we were quite clear about the list. They are players who could do it. In training they take them well. It’s a shame that the one who takes them best, which is Mikel, is the one who has missed.”
“We have all missed. Not reaching the final is not because Brais and Mikel have missed. We are all guilty and I am the first. Mikel is a very mature boy and just like a few years ago, he scored the goal to win the Copa, now it couldn’t be and he will pick himself up.”
La Real have a tricky trip to Sevilla at the weekend, before attempting a heroic comeback against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, where they trail by two goals. Picking up his side in such a short amount of time will be no easy feat for Alguacil, but neither can they afford too many more dropped points in La Liga. Currently just two points behind Real Betis, a bad run from here would see them slip out of the European race, especially if Mallorca win the Copa del Rey, taking the seventh European spot.
