Real Sociedad defeated Atlético de Madrid in the penalty shootout of an action-packed Copa del Rey final in Seville, ending 2-2 (3-4 on penalties), which the Basque club from San Sebastián led since the 13th second, after a header by Ander Barrenetxea that found the entire Atleti defence distracted. Atleti managed to equalise the match again, with Julián Álvarez scoring a fantastic goal in the 83rd minute, but he later missed his penalty in the final shootout.
It's an exceptional feat for Real Sociedad, which was closer to the relegation zone at the end of 2025, when coach Pellegrino Matarazzo was hired to replace Sergio Francisco. The American manager, from Wayne, New Jersey, drastically improved the team: unbeaten at home in 2026, only three defeats away, to lift the team to seventh place in LaLiga.
With this victory at the Spanish Cup, fourth overall in the history of the club, five years after the final from the 2019/20 season, Matarazzo becomes the first manager from the US to win a major trophy (albeit not a league trophy) in any of the five big European leagues (Spain, Germany, England, France, Italy), while Jesse Marsch remains the only one to win a League title, winning the Austrian Bundesliga with Red Bull Salzburg in 2020 and 2021.
Matarazzo, son of Italian immigrants, spent his entire professional career as a player in Germany, playing in lower tier clubs, and later became manager for Bundesliga clubs VfB Stuttgart and TSG Hoffenheim.
