Real Madrid and Barcelona were ousted from the Copa del Rey quarterfinals on Thursday, the first time in nearly 65 years that the La Liga giants were eliminated from the tournament on the same day.
Real Sociedad ended Real Madrid's 21-game unbeaten run by winning 4-3 at the Bernabeu, while Barcelona were sent crashing out thanks to hosts Athletic Bilbao on a stoppage time header.
We look at six key talking points of two matches.
Real Madrid 3-4 Sociedad
Real Madridās 21-match unbeaten streak is finally over and unfortunately it came in the Copa del Rey at the Santiago BernabĆ©u. Zinedine Zidaneās rotated squad simply couldnāt keep Real Sociedad at bay as the visitors bagged four goals and held on late to win 4-3.
There is a lot that can be said about this match but I will try to keep it as straight forward and unbiased as possible.
From the kickoff, Real Madrid looked good. They were passing the ball well, moving off the ball, and creating chances in front of Sociedadās goal.
The biggest problem for The Whites was transitioning from offense back to defense and slowing down the quick counter-attacks of the visitors. Madrid loanee Martin Odegaard and Alexander Isak put on a master-class against center backs Sergio Ramos and Eder Militao as the two defenders looked flustered for the majority of the contest.
1. Loaning Martin Odegaard was a mistake
We Madridistas were taught a lesson today. āDonāt loan wickedly talented young players to high quality teams in Spain.ā
The Norwegian international was stellar in his return to the BernabĆ©u where he has now played more matches as a visitor than as a member of the Real Madrid first team. And, funny enough, he scored his first ever goal in Los Blancosā home ground in the 22nd minute after settling a rebound off of Alphonse Areola and slapping it back on net.
The young playmaker shouldāve been credited for an assist early in the second half as well, but the goal was disallowed due to an offside after a VAR check. I think Odegaard played so well against his parent club it was an act of courtesy from Sociedad manager Imanol Alguacil to bring him off as the first substitute before the hour mark.
All these statements from the player and his agent saying that he will stay in San Sebastian for another season on loan are ridiculous.
If tonight wasnāt proof enough that Real Madrid should be using this kid at the start of next season, they should just get rid of him. Imagine all the incredible combinations Zidane could use with Odegaard roaming either as a winger or as an attacking midfielder.
The team needs his creativity and wits in the team ASAP.
2. The Rodrygo ā Vinicius debate leaves more questions than answers
Madrid fans are frequently guilty of comparing apples to oranges. They can never be happy when two players are performing well for the team. Debates always make their way to social media and the tabloids in the country and that is what we are witnessing with Rodrygo Goes and Vinicius Junior.
Purely because of their similar path to the Spanish capital and relationship before joining Los Blancos, the fans are always trying to make an educated guess as to which of the Brazilianās is more deserving of minutes.
Zidane remains as unsure as the rest of us as he continues to rotate the two with regularity. Today, he chose Vini to start, but brought on Rodrygo with his side down 4-1 and 15 minutes to play.
Vinicius was great going forward and shouldāve scored a goal had it not been for an offside decision from VAR. He did pick up an assist just moments after the goal was called off by setting up Rodrygo, so, it cancels out the missed opportunity.
This match only provided more questions if you are one of those people who is actually debating who is better (why does it matter they play on the same team?) and you likely wonāt have those answers for another or year or two at least.
3. Areola shows his first signs of weakness
The sample size is small, but up until this match against Real Sociedad, I though Alphonse Areola was fantastic. Furthermore, I thought he should get some game time in La Liga just so Zidane could decide if he wants to straight up buy the goalkeeper from PSG this summer.
I am starting to reconsider that after what I saw in this match. The French international made just one save on the night on five Sociedad shots on target and looked nervous every time the visitors threatened.
Now, both of the Isak goals were simply too good and the Real Madrid defense was horribly out of position, but the first and fourth goals should have never happened. Areola allowed an enormous rebound on the first goal which fell right to Odegaard to finish.
On the fourth goal, Mikel Merino was lucky to slot the ball into the corner as Areolaās hand was not strong enough to knock the ball away.
Itās Thibaut Courtoisā show from here on out and no one should second guess it.
Athletic 1-0 Barcelona
Barcelona were unceremoniously dumped out of the Copa del Rey, with Athletic Bilbao posting a 1-0 victory over them at the Estadio San Mames.
Both teams are the two most successful sides in Copa del Rey history, with Athletic Bilbao's 23 triumphs second only to the 24 managed by Barcelona and given the intense rivalry between the two sides, it came as no surprise that the game was played at a high intensity throughout.
No fewer than five yellow cards were issued in the first half alone, with referee Juan Martinez struggling to keep control of the game. Nelson Semedo, Lionel Messi, Jordi Alba, and even coach Quique Setien were all issued warnings in the first half, while Yeray Alvarez also saw yellow for the home side.
For all of the physicality deployed in the game, the match was painfully devoid of real quality which was a shame considering the abundance of attacking talent on display and just when it seemed like we would need extra time to settle the contest, Inaki Williams was on hand to head home a cross by Ibai Gomez to send the Basque outfit into the semifinal.
Barcelona would now turn their attention to their league clash with Real Betis this weekend, while Bilbao would square off with Real Sociedad in the Basque derby.
In this piece, we shall be highlighting five talking points from the Copa del Rey clash at San Mames.
1. Barcelona's season threatening to unravel
The season started poorly enough for Barcelona, with just two wins picked up from their opening five LaLiga fixtures but the return to full fitness of captain Lionel Messi helped steady the ship and the Catalans ended last year on a high, topping both LaLiga and their Champions League group.
However, things have once again gone south and recent disappointing results have seen them relinquish top spot in the league to Real Madrid as well as the termination of Ernesto Valverde's contract.
The latter was something that reportedly did not sit well with a number of players and unconfirmed reports suggest that two players (Lionel Messi and Ter Stegen) flared up in a confrontation on the training ground.
In the aftermath of Valverde's sack, the Barcelona players failed to have their customary pre-game huddle where one of the top players gives their final peptalk and all this pointed to signs of a divided dressing room.
Some ill-advised comments by Director of Football Eric Abidal during an interview this week saw Lionel Messi take to Instagram to address his former teammate and call him out in what was a major deviation from the normally taciturn Argentine international.
Added to this is the fact that Messi has a clause in his contract that could see him leave for free this summer and reports have started linking him with a shock move to Manchester City in the Premier League.
Furthermore, the club were rocked with the news of long-term injuries to Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele but their indecisiveness in the winter window means that they would end the season with Antoine Griezmann and Lionel Messi as the only established forwards in the first-team.
The general feeler from the Barcelona camp is that they are a house in disarray from boardroom to the training ground and it is no surprise that results on the field have been poor and they would do well to get their house in order to avoid ending the season in calamity.
2. More upset recorded in the Copa del Rey
Haeding into this season, a lot of radical changes were made to the Copa del Rey, with the chief two being the expansion of the tournament to include more lower division and amateur teams, as well as the scrapping of the two-legged ties until the semifinal.
Home advantage was also given to the lower ranked sides and the fallback to this was that fans of unheralded clubs in small locales got the chance to see mega superstars in flesh and blood in their stadiums.
It is expected that the long tradition of the Copa del Rey being dominated by the bigger sides would end and more 'giant killings' - as is the case in the FA Cup - would be recorded and while seven of the eight quarterfinalists were 'big clubs' from LaLiga, this season's Copa del Rey has had its own fair share of upsets.
Perhaps the biggest of the earlier stages came when unfancied Cultural Leonesa knocked out heavyweights Atletico Madrid in the round-of-32, while UD Ibiza also ran Barcelona ragged at the same stage.
Segunda side CD Mirandes knocked out Sevilla in the round-of-16 to book their place as the only non-LaLiga side in the last eight and they continued their good run by eliminating high-flying Villarreal with a 2-1 victory.
The remaining ties all involved LaLiga sides but crucially, it saw the lower ranked side progress at the expense of their more illustrious opponents.
Granada kicked things off by knocking out defending champions Valencia 2-1 courtsey a brace by former Los Che Roberto Soldado, while Real Sociedad also ended Real Madrid's 21-game unbeaten run with a 4-3 win at Santiago Bernabeu.
Athletic Bilbao's win over Barcelona means that none of the four semifinalists have won the Copa del Rey since 1986 and the alteration of the competition is already reaping dividends.
3. More questions to be asked of Setien
The year started poorly for Barcelona, with a 3-2 loss to Atletico Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup proving to be the last straw for Ernesto Valverde as manager.
The 55-year-old was sacked soon after that and in his stead, the club turned to former Real Betis coach Quique Setien, appointing him on a two-and-half year contract.
His appointment generated mixed reactions, with his only selling point being that he played attractive football while acting as manager of Los Verdiblancos and as the 60-year-old himself admitted, he was surprised to receive the call.
Life has not gone according to plan for him at Camp Nou and he has already lost two of his first six matches in charge of the Catalans, while his side struggled even in victory against minnow like Ibiza, Granada, and, Levante, and Leganes.
With all due respect to the quartet, none of them are exactly in the upper echelons of Spanish football and the fact that Barcelona were unconvincing in their victories over them was a source of discontent among fans.
The two reasonably quality opposition the Blaugrana have faced under Setien have seen them lose, with this latest setback to Bilbao coming after another away loss to Valencia in the league.
Quique Setien stated that he was very honoured to have the job of coaching the best player in the world but if he does not oversee a quick turn of results, he would be out of a job as quickly as he got it.