Blood, sweat and balloons
Los Rojillos are 90 minutes away from the Copa del Rey final, and boy do they know it.
It might have been the loudest cheer for the half-time whistle there has ever been.
El Sadar wobbled as their first-leg lead over Athletic Club was confirmed last night. Sergio Herrera punched the air in anger and delight, Chimy Ávila collapsed to the ground. But it was Abde, Osasuna’s Moroccan maverick, who had the widest grin of all, for the second time in the space of just three days.
After his stunning breakaway goal in Seville on Sunday, the relentless winger hit the target just as crisply back at home. Slowing down, speeding up, before sending the ball skimming into the far corner with his weaker left foot, those jet-powered heels landed a sweet sucker punch once again.
But for a moment of inspiration, it was, in truth, more of a Basque battle than a ballet.
A first Copa del Rey semi-final since 2005, Osasuna were running on adrenaline, and while visitors Athletic are undoubtedly better-versed when it comes to cup runs, it felt as if the occasion and the excitement swallowed them up, too.
The opening 45 minutes saw just two shots on target, as balloons still bobbled around a confetti-covered pitch. Abde ran and ran to no avail, Ávila tried his luck from 30 yards and then 70, all while the combative duo Mikel Vesga and Dani Garcia went toe-to-toe with Lucas Torró in an increasingly fractious midfield fight.
Frenetic, chaotic, and hot-headed, the first 45 minutes of the first semi-final huffed and puffed, but ultimately fizzled out.
After the game was blown wide open by Abde’s arrow, though, Athletic began to push on.
The introduction of 36-year-old Raúl García for a disappointing Álex Berenguer helped to bring Oihen Sancet and Iker Muniain into the game, freeing up Iñaki Williams to run in behind while the grizzled target man set to work on occupying Osasuna’s sturdy centre-backs all by himself.
But ultimately, aside from a smart Herrera save in the dying embers, El Sadar proved impregnable once more.
With over a month to go until what is sure to be a feisty second leg at San Mamés, attention returns to the European race, where both sides find themselves separated by just one point in eighth and ninth respectively.
As Jagoba Arrasate’s men welcome a fast-improving Celta to Pamplona on Monday evening, Los Leones face a daunting trip to sixth-placed Rayo, looking to arrest their concerning slip-and-slide down the LaLiga table before their continental dreams disappear for good.
For now, though, the night belongs to Osasuna, and indeed, to Ezzalzouli.
A winger much maligned for that famous lack of end product, the 21-year-old answered a few critics rather emphatically last night.
Moroccan magic. Abdecadabra.
Los Rojillos are halfway there.