Extra time and penalties were necessary for Bilbao to break a 40-year trophy drought and secure victory against RCD Mallorca.
Mallorca mounted all the pressure early on with Muriqi forcing a save from the Athletic Club goalkeeper, Agirrezabala in the first half.
Later on Giovanni Gonzalez’s left footed volley from a corner kick was blocked and a follow up by Larin saved by Agirrezabala only for Antonio Railo’s lay off to be finally finished off by Dani Rodriguez in the box after a brief spell of chaos from the initial corner.
Nico Williams believed he had equalized for his side after executing a beautiful combination on the left, only to be thwarted by the offside flag. Undeterred, he had another opportunity but unfortunately sent his shot into the side netting after a one-on-one encounter with Mallorca goalkeeper, Dominik Grief.
The equalizer finally came when the brilliant Nico Williams delivered a fantastic through ball past two players into the box for Sancet, who skillfully curled the ball into the far post, beating Grief.
Athletic Club made another attempt before the close of the second half, with skipper Muniain narrowly missing the target from his well-taken freekick. After 30 minutes of extra time with both sides rarely threatening each other, penalties became the ultimate decider.
Muriqi stepped up and scored the first penalty for Mallorca but Raul Garcia replied in the same fashion for the Basque side. Mallorca’s duo. Morlanes and Radonjic both missed their penalties with the latter sending his kick high and wide leaving Berenguer of Athletic Club the hero of the moment, the opportunity to finish off from the spot to give his side their first win in a final for the first time after eight straight final defeats.
After 40 years of waiting, Athletic Club ended their drought for silverware when Iker Muniain lifted their 24th Copa Del Rey trophy, the second highest tally after Barcelona.