Three academy players scored their first goals for Athletic Club's senior side inside four minutes as Edin Terzić's team beat Prat 6-1 in the Copa del Rey. The late burst came from substitutes in a side rotated with the Basque derby in mind.

On Thursday 29 October, Athletic met Prat in the Copa del Rey round of 128. The tie was played at the Estadi La Feixa Llarga in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat. Its closing stages belonged to Athletic’s academy.

Each of the late scorers had come off the bench. Selton Sánchez finished the night with the sixth goal, teed up by Vizcay, whose own strike had started the flurry.

Aritz Conde earned an 8.2 rating from the data provider for his half-hour on the pitch. Imga, aged just 17, had made his first-team debut alongside Vizcay against Getafe the previous Sunday.

A rotated line-up had the tie settled by half-time

EFE reported that Athletic picked a starting XI shaped by the coming Basque derby, giving chances to players such as Yohaneko, Sannadi and Nico Serrano. Those changes did not slow the visitors.

Maroan Sannadi opened the scoring in the 29th minute. Robert Navarro doubled the lead two minutes later. Mikel Jauregizar provided both assists. Gustavo Reinke pulled one back for Prat in the 33rd minute, set up by Álex Plaza. Serrano restored the two-goal cushion three minutes later from a Jesús Areso pass.

The statistics show how one-sided the night was. Athletic had 68% of the ball and 20 shots from inside the box. They put 12 attempts on target, against 2 from the hosts. Prat’s goalkeeper was kept busy with six saves. Navarro earned the top rating of 9.2, with seven key passes in 86 minutes.

Miguel Ángel Motoso’s Prat came into the tie after beating San Rafael 5-1 and 5-0 in their two previous matches. The draw carried an echo for Athletic. Their run to their most recent Copa title began on 1 November 2023 against another Liga Élite Catalana side, about 22 km from L’Hospitalet.

The Real Sociedad derby follows three days later

The rotation leaves Terzić’s regular attackers fresher for the weekend. On Sunday 1 November, San Mamés stages the LaLiga matchday 11 meeting with Real Sociedad, kicking off at 21:00 Spanish time. Athletic’s recent results include a 1-0 win over the same opponents.

The cup run now pauses. The RFEF’s first national round brought in 112 of the 116 clubs entered in this season’s competition, which runs until 24 April 2027. The last 32 is set for 16 December, with the last 16 on 6 January. Before that, the second round is scheduled for 2 December.