Endrick asks for the Cup for a Madrid that trembles for Ceballos

Endrick's hunger has put Madrid's first foot towards the Copa del Rey final, which will be held at La Cartuja on April 26. The Brazilian's goal pushed the Whites into rotation against an intense Real Sociedad, which besieged Lunin at times and will have to seek the heroics on April 1 at Chamartín.

After several games in the back of the cupboard, Ancelotti put Güler and Endrick in the starting line-up, forgotten in recent weeks due to the importance of the Champions League play-off against City and the good form of the attack. And Madrid, who have the Cup in third place in their priorities for the season, breathed a sigh of relief with them. Especially thanks to the Brazilian, who is eager to take on the world.

Real Sociedad started passionately, pushed by the flares from the pre-match, which dyed the old Anoeta red. Imanol's team, inconsistent during the season, looked for Madrid from the first minute, pressed high to look for the initial error and almost succeeded in the third minute. Kubo stood up to Lunin after a mistake by Camavinga and a one-two with Oyarzabal, but the Ukrainian cleared it to the corner.

As the minutes passed, the Whites woke up and settled on their plan. Camavinga and Ceballos in the double pivot, Bellingham freed, Arda on the right and Vinicius on the left. Madrid did not want long balls, as on other occasions, but called on Real to press them to get out of the pressure with several touches looking for free space in the centre of the field. That's how the 0-1 came about.

Endrick dropped down to receive the ball and passed it to Vinicius before making a direct run towards goal. Powerful, vertical. The ball stopped at the feet of Bellingham, who waited for the forward to run in to put a millimetre-perfect ball behind the centre-backs. Endrick controlled it, took advantage of Remiro's hesitation in coming out and finished with the outside of his foot in sensational fashion.

Their hunger for minutes, goals and glory put Madrid on the path to the final at La Cartuja, but Real, especially in San Sebastián, were not going to give up. The txuri-urdin focused their options on the right side of the Madrid defence, with Asencio replacing Lucas, with the youth-team player suffering against Barrenetxea, who beat him on several occasions to threaten Lunin and gave him a yellow card that led to Asencio being substituted at half-time. Just after the crowd chanted "Asencio, die" and forced Sánchez Martínez to stop the match and apply the protocol against racism, intolerance and xenophobia.

Lunin had previously saved several shots from Brais, Barrenetxea and Oyarzabal and Remiro had prevented Vinicius from making it 0-2 after a counterattack from Bellingham before the match entered the realm of interruptions and tension.

After the break, Ancelotti took off Asencio, who was burdened by a yellow card, and brought on Lucas. Madrid did not change much, but the game grew in tension and chances. It broke down. Real took a step forward in attack and changed flanks, now insisting on Fran García's side, with Kubo and Brais looking for him again and again. That was where they had their best chances, but Lunin was a giant.

In the 49th minute, the Ukrainian saved a point-blank shot from Oyarzabal and stretched out on the rebound to prevent Kubo from scoring. On the other side of the field, Endrick sent a missile into the crossbar when the Madrid bench was already celebrating the goal.

The Brazilian made some space for himself again with a run that surprised the Real defence and Vinicius found him with a long ball, but the shot was deflected off the post. It was the young attacker's great calling card, a goal and a crossbar, to convince an Ancelotti who has struggled to give him minutes.

Madrid had ten minutes of space on the counterattack in which Vinicius could have finished off the game, but he was not settled on the day he wore the captain's armband for the first time. Neither was Lucas, who sent the ball high after a zigzag in the area.

The Whites' forgiveness pinched Real from the 60th minute onwards. Imagol's men turned against Lunin, but they lacked punch, like Oyarzabal, who took a while to define after a mistake by Fran García and allowed Tchouaméni to arrive, who scored a high mark as a centre-back. Bellingham forgave in the other area and Ceballos, key this year, broke down, leaving Madrid with the big bad news in the first leg in San Sebastián.