Rodrygo’s two goals and Vinicius Jr.’s performance helped Real Madrid beat Osasuna 2-1 on Saturday to win the Copa del Rey for the 20th time and the first time since 2014.
Brazil’s Rodrygo opened the scoring two minutes later, but Carlo Ancelotti’s men failed to equalize in the 13th minute after half-time.
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But a mistake by Rodrygo in the 70th minute gave Madrid a much-needed victory as they prepare for Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final first leg against Manchester City. The downturn continues and my confidence has grown.
“I’m really, really happy,” Rodrygo said. “It’s been a long time since Madrid won this game and on a personal level we talked this week about what was missing.” “I scored two goals… well, it’s one for me Very special night.
“I always say I want this because it’s something I’m missing, but I want more, more, more. Paddy.”
Since winning the last Copa del Rey nine years ago, the team has won the European Cup 14 times, and although not as good as the Spanish Cup, the team has won the Champions League four times.
That changed on Saturday when they beat Osasuna, who were looking for a first major title in the club’s history after losing their only Copa del Rey final in 2005. Madrid’s 20th Copa del Rey winners are Barcelona (31) and Athletic Bilbao (23).
Madrid are all but out of contention in La Liga, having lost two of their last three games and are 14 points clear of leaders Barcelona.
Against Osasuna, however, they were dominant thanks to Vinicius’ performance. Vinicius was almost unstoppable from the left and was involved in both Rodrygo’s goals with stunning individual runs.
Rodrygo scored first after Vinicius dribbled past several defenders on the left and delivered a perfect cross over the outside of his boot, his legs through the woods.
Madrid had almost 65% possession and Vinicius created several chances that his teammates were unable to fully exploit.
Rodrygo missed a sitter in the 30th minute, Vinicius made another run and Osasuna nearly scored on Abd’s counter-attack, but a desperate Danica Bahar cleared the ball off the goal line. .
A David Alaba free-kick hit the crossbar shortly afterwards and Vinicius narrowly missed with a curling shot from the edge of the box.
However, Madrid didn’t step on the gas in the second half, allowing Osasuna to equalize with a low shot from the edge of Toro’s box.
However, after Vinicius’ run and cross found Toni Kroos, Rodrygo sealed the win with a shot from close range.
This report uses information from Reuters and The Associated Press.