Athletic Club are Copa del Rey champions again: How Ernesto Valverde built a winning team

The Basque club have won the Copa del Rey for the first time since 1984, defeating Mallorca on penalty kicks in Saturday’s final.

Bilbao is a city of football champions once again. By winning Saturday’s Copa del Rey final against Mallorca, overcoming the islanders on penalties, Athletic Club have lifted this trophy for the 24th time and the first time since 1984. Since then, they had lost all six Copa del Rey finals they’d reached, but on Saturday Los Leones were able to respond to an early Dani Rodriguez goal, equalising through Oihan Sancet and then winning the shootout 4-2.

There was reason to believe that this Copa del Rey final would turn out differently for the team from Bilbao. That’s because Athletic Club’s performances throughout this season have been excellent, and they currently sit fifth in La Liga, just two points behind Atletico Madrid and the final Champions League qualification position.

This is a squad with a winning mentality, and so much of the credit must go to Ernesto Valverde. The coach returned to San Mames in the summer of 2022 for a third spell in charge of the club he used to play for, and just missed out on European qualification in his first season back.

This term, Athletic Club have been even better and Valverde has constructed the second-best defence in La Liga, thanks to a well-organised 4-2-3-1 formation. That solid defensive play has translated to the Copa del Rey too, even with the usual backup goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala starting matches in this competition instead of Unai Simon, as Los Leones conceded just four goals across their eight cup games.

Agirrezabala’s performances throughout the tournament were important, and he was decisive in saving one of the Mallorca penalties in the