Athletic Bilbao – Real Sociedad: Basque derby in the semi-final first leg 
Wednesday night, San Mamés will be loud and nasty. Athletic Bilbao host Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg — a Basque derby packed with history and venom. Two neighbours, two projects, one ticket to the final. This is more than a cup tie.
Athletic Bilbao: the cup as a refuge 
Bilbao’s season has been a tightrope. They can stun you one week and drift the next. Ernesto Valverde’s side still can’t string a run together in La Liga.
That Levante win last weekend blew fresh air into the place. Four goals, pace, intensity — the kind of night that makes San Mamés feel like a 12th man again. Trouble is, it’s been a lone flare in a patchy spell.
League reality is harsher. Sitting tenth, Bilbao can’t afford to relax. The defence keeps getting exposed. Eleven matches without a clean sheet in all competitions is worrying for a team that prides itself on grit and control.
The Copa del Rey, then, looks like home turf. Their route’s been messy at times, but rarely dull: a tight win against Ourense, extra-time at Cultural Leonesa, and that quarter-final chaos with Valencia ended by an Iñaki Williams winner in the dying seconds.
Bilbao know how to handle nights like this. They’re one of the Cup’s monuments — 24 trophies and a recent triumph to remind people. At San Mamés, in a derby, motivation won’t be in short supply.
Real Sociedad: consistency as a weapon 
Real Sociedad do things quieter but steadier. Under Pellegrino Matarazzo they’ve shown a spine that Athletic often lacks.
Ten matches unbeaten across all competitions, a comfortable top-8 spot in La Liga, and an overall control that survives even when the football’s not pretty. Saturday’s win at Elche was another nod to momentum.
Their Cup run’s been tough too: a tense shootout with Osasuna and a bruising quarter-final against Alavés. Nothing’s come easy, but they don’t panic.
The recent league derby summed them up. Real led for most of the game and still let a late equaliser slip. Consider that a flashing warning ahead of this tie.
Real have lifted the Cup only twice, so chances like this don’t come every season. Taking a result from San Mamés would be a statement — both on the pitch and in the books.
Probable line-ups
Athletic Bilbao :
Simon ; Gorosabel, Paredes, Laporte, Lekue ; Ruiz de Galarreta, Jauregizar ; Serrano, Guruzeta, Williams, Williams
Real Sociedad :
Remiro ; Gomez, Caleta-Car, Zubeldia, Odriozola ; Turrientes, Soler, Gorrotxategi, Marin ; Oyarzabal, Guedes
Football Prediction Athletic Bilbao vs Real Sociedad
Athletic Bilbao to win
Derbies boil down to fine edges. Bilbao will lean on the San Mamés cauldron and their cup know-how.
Real arrive with more collective calm, but Bilbao turn nights like this into fights. At home, in a first leg where intensity will likely beat fluency, the Lions can nick a slight advantage to take to the return.
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