Athletic Club secured their place in the next round of the Copa del Rey with an attacking masterclass on Thursday, thrashing Prat 6-1 at San Mamés. The Basque side, eighth in La Liga with 12 points, erased any doubt early on with a goal-filled first half.
Maroan Sannadi opened the scoring in the 29th minute from a Mikel Jauregizar pass. Two minutes later, Robert Navarro, also assisted by Jauregizar, doubled the lead. Prat pulled one back through Gustavo Reinke in the 33rd minute, but Nico Serrano restored the two-goal cushion before half-time following a Jesús Areso cross.
The second half was a one-sided affair, with Athletic controlling 67% of possession and firing 21 shots. Substitutes finished the job. Vizcay, who had come on for Sannadi, netted the fourth in the 84th minute from a Conde assist. Three minutes later, fellow substitute Imga scored the fifth, and seconds after that, Sergio Sánchez completed the rout after being set up by Vizcay.
Statistical dominance
The numbers reflected total control. Beyond the overwhelming possession and shots, Athletic committed 11 fouls, the same as their opponents, and had six corners to Prat's one. Beñat Prados received the only yellow card for the hosts in the 57th minute.
The team lined up with Alex Padilla in goal, a defence of Areso, Yeray Álvarez, Aitor Paredes and Louis-Jean. Beñat Prados and Alejandro Rego anchored the midfield, while the attacking trio consisted of Nico Serrano, Mikel Jauregizar and Robert Navarro, with Maroan Sannadi up front. Besides goalscorers Vizcay, Imga and Sánchez, Gerenabarrena and Otero also came off the bench.
Eyes on the derby
With the cup tie safely handled, focus immediately shifts to La Liga. Athletic, coming off an inconsistent run of form (WLLDD in their last five), host Real Sociedad this Sunday, November 1st at 21:00 at San Mamés. The Basque derby pits eighth against fifth in a key match for European aspirations. The last meeting saw Athletic win 0-1 at Anoeta. The team approaches this clash with a recent league record of one win, two draws and two defeats from their last five matches, and a season tally of three wins, three draws and three losses from nine games played. In attack, the side has scored 12 goals and conceded 9, leaving them 15 points behind the leaders, Barcelona.
Athletic Club confirmed on Friday that Aritz Conde made his official debut in Thursday's cup rout. The club announced that the 21-year-old winger became the 665th player to debut for the first team, replacing Johaneko in the 60th minute of the match against Prat. Conde, trained at Antiguoko, joined the club in 2023 and rose from Bilbao Athletic.
