Fourth time reaching four consecutive Copa semi-finals
Fourth time reaching four consecutive Copa semi-finals
In three previous periods, Athletic also reached four consecutive semi-finals, although their greatest achievement came in the first of these
Athletic Club will contest a fourth consecutive Cup semi-final after Thursday's 1-3 win over Valencia CF at Mestalla. However, it is not the first time that the Lions have achieved this feat.
In three previous periods, Los Rojiblancos also managed four semi-finals in a row. Their greatest achievement took place in the first of these runs - straddling the late 1920s and early 30s - with five consecutive appearances at the penultimate hurdle.
The first semi-final of that series took place in 1929, but Maximo Royo's Athletic were defeated by Real Madrid. Then came the glorious era of Mr. Pentland (his second spell in the dugout) and arguably the best Athletic team of all time. With stars like Gregorio Blasco, Roberto Etxebarria, Jose Muguerza, Juan Jose Urkizu and the famous forward line of Jose Iraragorri, Chirri II, Bata, Ramon de la Fuente and Guillermo Gorostiza, they not only reached the final four, but went on to win the competition four years in row, in 1930, 1931, 1932 and 1933.
There were also four consecutive semi-finals between the 1941/42 and 1944/45 seasons. Urkizu, involved in the aforementioned four triumphs as a player, achieved a similar feat as head coach. He had historic squad at his disposal which included players like Raimundo Lezama, Nando, Salvador Arqueta, Juan Jose Mieza, Roberto Bertol and the other great Athletic forwards such as Rafael Iriondo, Telmo Zarra, Jose Luis Panizo and Piru Gainza, with Venancio Pérez joining in 1944. Los Leones would reach all four finals, winning three of them: 1943, 1944 and 1945. These successes truly cemented Athletic's place as Kings of the Copa.
Los Leones had their third successful run in the Javier Clemente era, between 1983/84 and 1986/87. However, on this occasion, they only reached the final in the first two years, with victory at the first attempt. Andoni Zubizarreta, Santiago Urkiaga, Andoni Goikoetxea, Miguel de Andrés, Jose Gallego, Ismael Urtubi, Dani Ruiz-Bazan, Manuel Sarabia, Estanislao Argote and company beat Maradona's FC Barcelona, but lost in the next final to Atlético Madrid and fell to Barça and Real Sociedad in the following semi-finals.