Endrick Felipe and Andriy Lunin secure Copa del Rey semi-final advantage for Real Madrid – Football España

Real Madrid are in control of their Copa del Rey semi-final tie against Real Sociedad after securing 1-0 victory in the first leg at the Reale Arena.

Carlo Ancelotti named a much-changed side for the match, and it meant that Vinicius Junior was handed the captain’s armband for the first time as a Real Madrid player. The likes of Arda Guler and Endrick Felipe earning rare starts in San Sebastian, and despite a strong start to proceedings for La Real, it was the latter that broke the deadlock for Los Blancos.

On 19 minutes, Jude Bellingham played a lovely through pass to Endrick, who managed to control the ball before racing through on goal and placing the ball past La Real goalkeeper Alex Remiro. It came against the run of play, but Real Madrid did not care one bit.

It stayed 1-0 until half time, despite further pressure from La Real. Just before the interval, stand-in Real Madrid goalkeeper did brilliantly to stop a stinging effort from Ander Barrenetxea, and that set the tone for the second half where the two men in between the sticks came out on top.

There would be no second half goals at the Reale Arena, but there was plenty of action. Five minutes after the interval, Lunin made a superb save to deny Mikel Oyarzabal at the near post, before quickly recovering to keep out Takefusa Kubo’s follow-up strike from a tight angle. A couple of minutes later, Endrick saw an effort skim the crossbar, while in the last 10 minutes, Remiro made a stunning stop to deny Bellingham from getting on the scoresheet.

Real Madrid are now in a very strong position to book their place in the Copa del Rey final, where they would meet Barcelona or Atletico Madrid. The return leg at the Santiago Bernabeu will take place in five weeks’ time.