Real Sociedad club captain Asier Illarramendi joined his teammates to lift the 2020 Copa del Rey trophy after their 1-0 win over Athletic Bilbao.
Stand in skipper Mikel Oyarzabal scored the decisive penalty to seal a first Copa for La Real since 1987 in their delayed final triumph in Seville.
Illarramendi was ruled out of the final through injury, however, Oyarzabal insisted the veteran midfielder take over the traditional role of lifting the trophy at full time.
🗣 “ILLARRAMENDI LOLOLOLOLOLOLO…” 💙⚪️#Gurekin | #AurreraReala pic.twitter.com/eRc4PlkcL1
— Real Sociedad Fútbol (@RealSociedad) April 3, 2021
¡Asier Illarramendi cojeando, entre lágrimas de emoción, para coger la ansiada Copa del Rey!
👏⚪️🔵👏 pic.twitter.com/rIKc7qEdtj
— Radio MARCA (@RadioMARCA) April 3, 2021
An injured Asier Illarramendi having to be helped up and down steps to collect the trophy.
Mikel Oyarzabal passing him the armband after the game a classy moment pic.twitter.com/ibbyCQmWnv
— Fútbol es la leche (@futboleslaleche) April 3, 2021
The Basque rivals have a long running friendship between the cities of Bilbao and San Sebastien with club presidents Jokin Aperribay and Aitor Elizegi also sharing an embrace in the stands.
This embrace at full-time between presidents Aitor Elizegi of @AthleticClub and Jokin Aperribay of @RealSociedad says everything about how #rivalry is understood by the Basque Country’s two biggest clubs 🤝 #sportsmanship #deportividad #kiroltasuna 🏆 pic.twitter.com/0A1UXKvHbf
— Keegan Pierce 👨🏻🦰 (@KeeganPierce) April 3, 2021
Due to the fixture chaos caused by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic both sides were forced to abandon their original plans of delaying the final until fans could attend.
As a result, La Real will now defend their 2020 title in just a few weeks time when they take on Barcelona.
