Rodrygo leads Real Madrid to Spanish Cup win against Osasuna

The Spanish Cup was won for the 20th time by Real Madrid: 2-1. Osasuna – tenth in La Liga – bravely resisted, but proved no match for the Madrid star ensemble. Rodrygo was the celebrated man with two goals.

Osasuna only reached the final of the Spanish Cup once before. That happened in 2005, when Real Betis was too strong. Again, a victory seemed a big challenge, coach Jagoba Arrasate admitted before the game.

That same coach saw that his team – which appeared not yet focused – fell behind within two minutes. A disaster start, in other words. Real attacker Vinícius Júnior cleverly soloed towards the Osasuna goal, crossed and found Rodrygo who coolly shot in.

After the goal, ‘The Royal’ was in control and had several chances. Nevertheless, Osasuna fought for every meter and even almost scored the equalizer after half an hour of play.

Abde Ezzalzouli headed alone toward Thibaut Courtois’ goal and outsmarted the acclaimed goalkeeper with a lob. A goal was only just prevented by Daniel Carvajal, who cleared the ball from the goal line.

Before halftime, Real was dangerous several more times. A free kick by David Alaba splattered on the crossbar and Vinicius, who was regularly outplayed by Osasuna players, was close to a second goal.

Real Madrid came out of the locker room less strong after halftime. Osasuna pressed more and more and even forced an equalizer after an hour of play. A deflected cross came to midfielder Lucas Torró, who planted his distance shot low into the left corner.

The goal caused a lot of euphoria among the travelling supporters from Pamplona. The match even had to be stopped for a moment due to a small fire – caused by fireworks – in the stands. After the fire was extinguished, the match could resume.

Despite the goal, Osasuna could not really push forward and Real Madrid again took more initiative. Twenty minutes before time, the heralded winner of this final also struck the goal. It was Rodrygo again. He worked a cracked shot by Tony Kroos against the ropes.

The Madrilenians gave away little space after that and Osasuna – except for one chance in the closing stages – was unable to force an extension.