ANDl Athletic exhibits three consecutive years without losing a knockout match in the rounds prior to the Cup and Super Cup finals. It is one of the arguments to which the team clings in the face of the Cup round of 16 duel that will face Barcelona this Thursday. The lions return to training this Tuesday afternoon with the conviction of stretching that streak: between Cup and Super Cup they have come out ahead in 13 consecutive knockout ties.
The rojiblanco team has not given up in a tie since they lost in January 2019 in their confrontation with Sevilla in the round of 16 of the Cup. It’s been 1,098 days since Athletic has bent the knee before a final. The streak is spectacular because it has served him to reach four finals. However, of those four title dates he has only been able to win one, in the 2021 Super Cup against Barcelona. In this stretch he lost the Cup finals with Real Sociedad (2020), Barcelona (2021) and the most recent Super Cup 2022 with Real Madrid.
The round of 16 tie with Barcelona is another challenge. Barcelona is one of the teams that has been eliminated in this time in the race for a final, but also one of those that has made him come back empty from the fight for the title, being his executioner in the Cup final of 2021. Since Athletic was eliminated in the Cup by Sevilla, losing 1-3 in San Mamés and winning 0-1 in Pizjuán, the lions have eliminated Mancha Real, Ibiza, Alcoyano, Betis, Levante Intercity, Sestao, Elche, Tenerife, Barcelona and Granada while their victims in the Super Cup have been Real Madrid and Atlético.
