On Thursday, Atletico Madrid secured a spot in the Copa del Rey semifinals by defeating Sevilla 1-0, courtesy of a goal from Dutch forward Memphis Depay.
The game witnessed additional drama involving video review when Sevilla's late penalty for a foul on Erik Lamela was overturned after a VAR check by the head referee at the pitchside monitor. This incident followed several contentious VAR decisions in Real Madrid's LaLiga victory over Almeria.
Although the home side dominated the first half, they failed to score, with the best opportunity arising from a penalty that Antoine Griezmann couldn't convert due to a slip.
Griezmann had a chance at redemption in the second half, but his goal was disallowed for offside in the 60th minute, and Atletico saw another effort ruled out after a breakaway by Depay.
Depay eventually found the net in the 79th minute, capitalizing on Angel Correa's through ball slipping between Sergio Ramos's legs to secure the victory.
Atleti coach Diego Simeone admitted, "We didn't play how we wanted in the first half," but praised the impact of substitutions, saying, "The changes I made worked well and gave us more speed. We were fortunate that it worked out. We were lucky that Correa assisted and Depay scored."
Sevilla had a chance to equalize in stoppage time with a penalty earned after Pablo Barrios's tackle on Lamela, but the decision was overturned.
Simeone reflected on the incident, stating, "That last play showed Pablo [Barrios] not to take unnecessary risks. It's good that it happened to him and that there were no consequences in the end."
Looking ahead, Simeone emphasized the team's effort, saying, "We have made a great effort to be where we are, and in the second half, we had a different tempo. We played more risky, and the changes gave us the jump we needed."
In other Copa del Rey results, Athletic Bilbao advanced to the semifinals by defeating Barcelona 4-2, Mallorca eliminated LaLiga leaders Girona 3-2, and Real Sociedad secured a spot in the last four with a 2-1 win over Celta Vigo.
After the match, Sevilla coach Quique Sanchez Flores expressed sorrow for the death of two Sevilla fans in a car accident earlier that day. A minute's silence was observed before kickoff, and Flores said, "I don't want to talk about football today because we are very saddened by the news of the death of our fans. I just want to give my condolences to the families, to the Sevilla fans. We played on a day when we were mourning the death of two fans."
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