Koke Resurrección planting Atlético’s flag at the heart of the Santiago Bernabéu. The Vallecas native, then a precocious 21-year-old, had set up João Miranda in extra time to beat Real Madrid 14 years later – at the defining moment, in their stadium, in a final. Back then he was the Academy’s new standard-bearer. He will be 34 at La Giralda, now captain and the most capped player in club history. The only member of the current squad to have carried a Copa del Rey to Neptune. A showdown with either Real Sociedad or Athletic will also elevate 22-year-old Pablo Barrios – apprentice and heir apparent to Koke. The Moratalaz midfielder, sidelined for the semifinal tie through injury, is determined to plant the red-and-white flag in Seville.
From May 17, 2013 to April 18, 2026, a great deal has changed. 4,719 days will have passed between one Copa del Rey final and the next. It was Diego Simeone’s third trophy as coach after the 2012 Europa League and European Super Cup, and it could now be his ninth – alongside two La Liga titles, another Europa League, another European Super Cup, a Spanish Super Cup and that Copa already in his cabinet. From the birth of cholismo to its revival. Atlético had to sweat blood to reach this final, making the 4-0 first-leg demolition at the Metropolitano count despite a 3-0 defeat at Camp Nou to secure their place at La Cartuja.
“Our fans needed a game like this. The boys are making an incredible effort to reach where our supporters want us to be. Now we have to arrive in the best shape possible, keep working and look forward to the final with excitement,” Simeone said. The Copa del Rey had become something of an obsession for the coach. Between 2013 and 2026 there were too many barren years. Atlético have played 73 Copa games under his management – 42 wins, 14 draws and 17 defeats – but lifted the trophy only in his first campaign, when he arrived after Albacete had knocked Atlético out under Gregorio Manzano.
He continued to compete fiercely for a title he had also won as a player. It is a competition that stirs him. Atlético fell in the 2013-14 semifinals to Real Madrid, the 2014-15 quarterfinals to Barcelona, the 2015-16 quarterfinals to Celta, the 2016-17 semifinals to Barcelona again and the 2017-18 quarterfinals to Sevilla. Then came the cold years, marked by indifference toward a tournament the fans have always cherished. Something fractured. Atlético were eliminated in the 2019 round of 16 by Girona, in the 2020 first round by Cultural Leonesa, in the 2021 second round by Cornellà and in the 2022 round of 16 by Real Sociedad – four straight seasons without reaching the last eight.
While Barcelona, Real Madrid, Athletic, Sevilla, Alavés, Valencia, Real Sociedad, Betis and Mallorca all reached finals between 2013 and 2025, Atlético repeatedly fell short, nearer or farther from the shore. Until they reignited. In 2023 they were knocked out in the quarterfinals by Real Madrid; in 2024 and 2025 they reached the semifinals, only to be eliminated by Athletic and Barcelona. Now they have taken revenge on the Catalans. Koke returns to a final – the only current Atlético player to have played one in red and white. Only Antoine Griezmann, Clément Lenglet, Robin Le Normand and Marcos Llorente have appeared in a Copa final elsewhere – the first two with Barcelona, the latter pair with Real Sociedad and Alavés. Griezmann’s future remains one of the club’s major uncertainties, and his presence at La Cartuja would be the best possible news.
From that unforgettable lineup of May 17, 2013 – Thibaut Courtois, Juanfran Torres, Miranda, Diego Godín, Filipe Luís, Arda Turan, Mario Suárez, Gabi Fernández, Koke, Diego Costa and Radamel Falcao – to a side largely assembled over the past two seasons. At Camp Nou the starters were Juan Musso, Llorente, Marc Pubill, Dávid Hancko, Matteo Ruggeri, Giuliano Simeone, Koke, Johnny Cardoso, Griezmann, Ademola Lookman and Julián Alvarez – five signings from this season, two from last and Giuliano rising after successful loans. Only Llorente, Koke and Griezmann know what it means to lift silverware with Atlético, along with Jan Oblak and José María Giménez. The Copa could mean a return to Neptune. Five years after the last celebration – the 2020-21 league title. The fans and the dressing room have waited a long time for this.
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