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Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos has admitted Atletico de Madrid deserved to win the Copa del Rey on Friday night.

The World Cup winner said Los Colchoneros were more clinical in front of goal on the night.

Cristiano Ronaldo had given Real an early lead but goals from Diego Costa and Miranda saw Atletico beat their city rivals for the first time in 14 years to win their 10th Copa del Rey.

Speaking on Spanish television after the match, Ramos said: We have to say well done to Atleti, they deserve to win the trophy. We had four or five clear chances; but if you don’t take advantage of them you get punished.”

He went on to say that the season overall had been a disappointment for Los Blancos but the only thing to focus on now is to secure more silverware next year.

“This year we’ve ended up empty-handed. We’ve lost La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League. All we can say to the fans is that this is the reality and that there is next season to look forward to,” he said.

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Santiago Bernabeu

Following Real Madrid’s 2-1 defeat to Atletico de Madrid, Realmadridnews.com has rated the players’ performances. Let us know what you think.

Diego Lopez: 6/10. A largely solid performance, he made a couple of excellent saves in a one-on-one situation. Could perhaps have done better at dealing with the cross that lead to Miranda’s winner.

Michael Essien: 7/10. Not a natural right back but his energy was key in preventing Atletico from threatening more down the left hand side. Made a couple of last-ditch tackles and offered support while Real were going forward.

Sergio Ramos: 7/10.  Led the line well and was in the right place on numerous occasions to cut out Atletico crosses. Perhaps not as comfortable playing with Raul Albiol as with other defensive options, but a solid showing overall.

Raul Albiol: 6/10. The weakest man in the Real defence. Stepped up too soon allowing Diego Costa time and space to fire past Lopez. Needed to be at his best, and wasn’t.

Fabio Coentrao: 6/10.  Made some decent challenges early on, but Atletico clearly targeted his poor positioning. Wisely got taken off before he lost his temper.

Xabi Alonso: 6/10. A vey quiet game by his own high standards. Was unable to dictate the play in the centre of the park and perhaps had more defensive work to do than he would have liked.

Sami Khedira: 7/10. Made four vital interceptions throughout the match that could have led to Atletico winning the game with the 90 minutes. Provided excellent defensive cover and never stopped running.

Luka Modric: 7/10. Started brightly and always looked dangerous. Made some nice passes and got himself into some decent positions in and around the box. Faded as the second half wore on and was taken off.

Mezut Ozil: 8/10. Madrid’s best player on the night and very unlucky not to get on the scoresheet on two occasions. His corner led to Madrid’s goal, and he looked a threat all evening.

Cristiano Ronaldo: 6/10. His header for the goal was fantastic, as was the freekick that hit the post. Other than that he did very little. Frustrated by poor showing, he lost his temper and got his marching orders for kicking out at Gabi.

Karim Benzema: 5/10. Largely invisible throughout the match and offered no support to his team mates. Only contribution was hitting the post with an effort. Real fans must be wondering what happened to the Benzema of last year.

Substitutes:

Gonzalo Higuain: 6/10.  More lively than Benzema when he eventually emerged from the bench. Had a wonderful opportunity to score early in extra time but placed his volley straight at Courtois in the Atletico goal.

Angel di Maria: 6/10. Should have come on sooner.  His pace and trickery would have caused Atletico no end of problems. Didn’t have enough time to make a mark as it was.

Alvaro Arbeloa: 6/10. Came on for the ill-tempered Coentrao and put in a solid if unspectacular shift.

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Jose Mourinho has said this season has been his worst as boss of Real Madrid but he is still undecided as to what his future holds.

The Portuguese manager was sent to the stands in his side’s 2-1 loss to city rivals Atletico de Madrid in the Copa del Rey final at the Bernabeu.

The defeat means Los Blancos will end the season without any major trophy having missed out to Barcelona in La Liga, and were eliminated by Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.

Speaking after the game, Mourinho said: “This was the worst season of my career. I don’t think Atletico deserve to be champions but they won the title. We had two clear chances on goal, we hit the post 3 times…this is why I think it is unfair.”

When asked if the defeat to Atletico would signal the end of his Madrid stay, Mourinho responded by saying he hadn’t spoken to club officials about his future.

He stated: “I have a contract that is valid for three more years. I still haven’t talked to the president about my future.”

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Atletico de Madrid beat Real Madrid 2-1 in extra time at the Bernabeu to lift the Copa del Rey and end a 14-year winless run against their city rivals.

The final was a stormy affair in which both teams ended with 10-men after Cristiano Ronaldo and Gabi were dismissed, and Real boss Jose Mourinho also received his marching orders.

Real, who have been making the headlines for the wrong reasons in recent weeks with stories of infighting and Mourinho not being in speaking terms with many of the squad, made the perfect start as they took the lead inside the quarter hour mark.

Ronaldo rose highest above two Atletico players to head home a Mezut Ozil corner. The goal was his 55th in all competitions this season and his 201st in a Real Madrid shirt.

Los Blancos were pegged back just after the half hour mark though when Falcao, so often the saviour for Atletico with his goalscoring antics, turned provider and laid on a wonderfully weighted pass through the middle for Diego Costa to fire home past a helpless Diego Lopez in the Madrid goal.

The game was played at a furious pace throughout and both sides had their chances, but Diego Simeone’s chance were lucky to get away with it at times as Los Blancos hit the woodwork on three occasions.

First, Mezut Ozil hit the post from 20 yards, before Karim Benzema was also denied in the 61st minute. Ronaldo also hit a freekick against the post, and when the rebound fell to Michael Essien he miscued his effort high and wide.

Jose Mourinho was sent away from the dugout for protesting too vehemently in the 76th minute.

Neither side could find a winner within the 90 minutes and the spectators were treated to a further 30 minutes of thrilling and tense drama. It was the Rojiblancos who eventually took the lead in the 98th minute when Miranda got infront of Diego Lopez to head in a cross by Koke.

As Real chased an equaliser tempers began to fray and Ronaldo received a red card for kicking out at Gabi. The Atletico captain was then sent off himself for a second bookable offence, but with just seconds to go it mattered little as Atletico secured their 10th Copa del Rey title.

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Real Madrid blog

It wasn’t a perfect game for Real Madrid against Atletico at the Copa del Rey final. The Colchoneros performed brilliantly in defense and, although Los Blancos were unlucky, hitting the post three times, they made several important mistakes that brought them to deception.

The blame for many of those mistakes could be attributed to their manager, Jose Mourinho, who had a terrible night and a disappointing goodbye in his –very possibly– last final as Real’s boss. These are the key points in which Mourinho failed.

  1. A split squad. Real Madrid arrived to the final in the worst mental condition possible due to the confrontation between Mourinho and the players. And that is without any doubt the manager’s mistake. The task of a coach is to keep his squad united, and Mourinho has acted in the opposite way, fomenting separation and controversy in his press conferences.
  2. A conservative starting eleven. As in all the important matches –last year against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey, this year in Dortmund–, Mourinho selected a conservative formation to face the game. Rather than picking Modric for the centre-half and leaving Khedira out to bring Di Maria in, he chose a more defensive option. Di Maria, in very good shape, could have changed the final.
  3. Bringing Di Maria in too late. The Argentinian has arrived to the last quarter of the season in his best moment, performing at a very high level in every game. He created several goal opportunities when he was on the field, but he came in too late, just at the beginning of the extra time.
  4. Making the three substitutions at the same time. Higuain, Di Maria and Arbeloa came in at the start of the extra time, with 30 minutes to play. Mourinho did not change the formation at all with those substitutions, and left his team without solutions in case of an injury or the need of a game changing switch.
  5. Sending himself off. Mourinho did during the match the same thing he’s been doing for the last three weeks: creating confrontation and controversy. The referee sent him off in the 76th minute, but he could have showed him the red card before. All his staff behaved like punks after every controversial call of the referee. They just followed his boss example, and that is totally unacceptable for a club who’s history is based on respect and nobility.

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Copa del Rey final facts and figures

Real Madrid and Atletico de Madrid have met four times in the Copa del Rey final. The balance favours the Colchoneros, who have won three times, all of them at Santiago Bernabeu. Los Blancos have won just once, at the Vicente Calderon stadium and on penalties, after drawing 0-0.

That means the home team has never won a Copa del Rey final between the two city rivals. In the case of Real, statistics at Bernabeu are even poorer, as they have failed to win the trophy the last two occasions they played the final home, the most painful in the year of the club’s 100th anniversary against Deportivo de La Coruña.

Los Merengues have won 18 Copa del Rey titles in 37 finals, while the Colchoneros have celebrated nine wins in 18 final appearances. Their last final was three years ago against Sevilla, when they lost 2-0. Real’s last final, however, was a success, beating Barcelona in Valencia (1-0) in 2011.

Recent Madrid derby history has been disappointing for Atletico. For the last 14 years, they have failed to beat their traditional rivals in any competition. Their last victory was in 1999, 1-3 at the Bernabeu.

Neither their recent Copa del Rey final appearances have been successful. The Colchoneros have lost their last three finals and were only able to score in one of them, a 2-1 against Espanyol. Last time they brought the title to Vicente Calderon was in 1996, when they also won La Liga, beating Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona 1-0.

Atletico’s manager, Diego Pablo Simeone, was a crucial player in that legendary squad that won the famous Doblete -La Liga and Copa del Rey.

Individual statistics

Cristiano Ronaldo usually performs brilliantly in the Copa del Rey. He’s been the top scorer of the competition for the last three seasons and he rivals Atletico’s Diego Costa to achieve that honour for a fourth consecutive year. The Brazilian has scored seven goals so far this season, while the Portuguese has six.

Falcao is the king of the finals. He’s never lost one, and he has scored eight goals in all of them. Ronaldo usually performs at a good level in finals too. He’s scored seven goals, four of them with a header.

As for the goalkeepers, Thibaut Coutois has performed spectacularly in the tournament, with 20 saves in total. Atletico have conceded the fewest amount of goals in the Copa del Rey: just four.

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Real Madrid fans’ main doubt about the 11 men that will face Atletico de Madrid is whether Albiol, Pepe or Carvalho will play along with Sergio Ramos at centre back.

Raphael’s Varane injury left a free spot in Real’s defense, and it looks like Albiol will be Mourinho’s pick. Pepe, who would have been Varane’s substitute in a normal situation, has had a confrontation with the manager over his decision to drop Casillas. And Carvalho has lost the coach’s confidence this season.

Thus, the defense will consist of Coentrao, Ramos, Albiol and Essien, who has pushed Arbeloa out of the right back spot in the last third of the season. Another candidate for that position is young Nacho, but Mourinho is not likely to let Castilla’s player appear in such an important game.

Mourinho will select a 4-2-3-1 formation, in which Xabi Alonso will more likely be accompanied by Khedira at the centre-half, with Modric in front of them as playmaker and Ozil on the right. The other option could be leaving Khedira on the bench, with Modric next to Alonso and Di Maria starting on the right.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema will lead the attack. Higuain and Kaka will be on the bench as possible game-changers for the second half.

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Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid match preview
Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid match preview

Tonight’s Copa del Rey final has an all-round Madrid flavour to it, with Real Madrid facing city rivals Atletico at the Bernabeu.

Both sides have nothing else left to play for this season having secured second and third spot in La Liga behind champions Barcelona.

Their respective European campaigns ended in disappointment with Los Blancos losing to German outfit Borussia Dortmund in the semi-final, while Los Colchoneros were eliminated at the last 32 stage by Rubin Kazan of Russia.

The Copa offers a chance for Atletico to gain revenge over Real having lost twice in the league this year. Indeed, Atletico have a woeful recent record against their illustrious neighbours, and have not beaten them in any competition for 14 years.

So where will the match be won and lost tonight? Realmadridnews.com takes a look at some of the key battles.

Jose Mourinho vs Diego Simeone: It’s approaching two years since Diego Simeone took charge of Atletico, and in his time at the club he has yet to get the upper hand on either Madrid or Barcelona. In the two league matches this year Atletico gave Madrid a run for their money and will be hopeful of going one further this evening. In Mourinho though, Simeone is looking to outwit a tactical master. He has a win percentage of 72.6% in his time at Real and is looking to win his second Copa del Rey in three years.

Cristiano Ronaldo vs Radamel Falcoa: The two most likely players get on the scoresheet tonight, both men have been scoring machines for their clubs. Ronaldo’s figures are off the charts almost. He reached 200 goals for Los Blancos in just 197 games, he’s scored 34 goals in La Liga this season, and is looking to finish as the top scorer in the Copa del Rey for the fourth consecutive campaign. Atletico’s defence will have their work cut out. Falcao meanwhile has scored 28 goals in La Liga, two thirds of his side’s total, and his goalscoring run has seen him linked with big money moves away from the Calderon.

Angel di Maria vs Felipe Luis: One of the trickiest wingers versus one of La Liga’s most consistent performers at full back. Di Maria has had an inconsistent season by his standards, but scored in the Real’s win over Atletico in the league recently. Felipe was rested in the defeat to Barcelona at the weekend to ensure he’s fresh for tonight’s encounter.

Michael Essien vs Arda Turan: Atletico will be looking to exploit Madrid’s weakest area tonight – right back. Michael Essien has been chosen in recent weeks and although he’s done an admirable job, it’s not his most favoured position. In Ardan Turn, Essien will be up against a very skillful player who is good with both feet and able to operate on the right or left hand side.

Xabi Alonso vs Mario Suarez: Two defensive midfield masters. Xabi Alonso has seen it all in his career and the World Cup and European Championship winner will be key in stopping Atletico’s attacking trio get too much time and space on the ball. He’ll look to set Los Blancos on the counter attack with his incredible passing ability. Mario has had a strong season with Los Rojiblancos and earned his first full cap with the Spanish national side back in February. He’ll need to be at his best in front of the defence to stop Ronaldo and co.

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Both Madrid main sports newspapers have picked the same idea for their front pages in the day of the Copa del Rey final.

“Cybele against Neptune”, titles As. “A challenge between gods”, shows Marca, together with a picture of the two Madrid status where Real Madrid and Atletico de Madrid usually celebrate their victories.

If Real wins, everything is set up at Cybele place for the celebration. If Atletico gets the trophy, the official party will be delayed until tomorrow, but the fans will congregate for sure around Neptune’s statue, just 700 metres away from Cybele’s.

‘Sergio Ramos appeals to the team spirit to win the final’, adds Marca, pointing out that Real’s second captain offered the pre-match press conference in the absence of Jose Mourinho and his assistant, Aitor Karanka, who did not want to talk to the press.

The Colchoneros manager, Diego Pablo Simeone, did speak to the media. ‘Simeone is worried about Atletico not being favourite’, Marca claims.

As focuses more on the pre-game figures: ‘Cristiano, who has scored 54 goals so far this season, and Falcao (34 goals), arrive to the final in their best moment’, the Madrid daily says.

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Sergio Ramos has said Cristiano Ronaldo would have to become the first €1 billion player for him to leave Real Madrid.

There has been much speculation in recent weeks about the forward’s future in the Spanish capital, with reports linking him with a move back to former club Manchester United, or cash rich French champions Paris Saint Germain.

But defender Ramos is confident Ronaldo will still be a Real player next season.

Speaking to reporters ahead of tonight’s Copa del Rey final, he said: “You have to see which club has €1 billion to pay what he is worth. He should be in Madrid and he is happy here.”

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