Deportivo Liceo defeats Voltrega (2-1) and will play its eighteenth Copa del Rey final

There is no one who can with Deportivo Liceo Hockey Club. It doesn’t matter if one, two, three, up to seven players leave, the A Coruña team always manages to rebuild. It will take more or less. But he never gives up. This Saturday, against Voltrega, they showed it again with a 2-1 victory and a passage to play their eighteenth King’s Cup final. Barcelona is waiting there (12.30 RTVE Play). Yesterday’s match was not expected. He suffered more than expected, but he showed that the bonus of wearing that jersey and the privilege of having Juan Copa on the bench pays off in the end.

It was not a high school for big dates. Perhaps the atmosphere, on the other hand, was expected, perhaps the impudence with which Voltregá stormed onto the field, but the Verdiblanco team met the clash with poor setup on the track and numerous inaccuracies in the attack.

Thus, the first few minutes were blue and white, with the unknown Lice being overwhelmed again and again and able to surprise only in some opponents.

Even when the game got more expensive, after fourteen minutes, the moments in which the referees unfairly showed a red card to Aleix Molas, who will miss the rest of the match. Liceo stayed like that for a few moments with a player higher on the field and knew how to use it just 50 seconds later to make it 1-0 on the scoreboard. First, Álex Rodríguez missed a direct free kick, but not long after, it was captain Dava Torres who slammed his fist into the table.

One rotation less for the Catalans and a goal more for the Galicians. It appeared to be the ideal setting for the match Juan Copa planned to play before kick-off. But Voltregá did not collapse, far from it. Lluis Teixidó called a time-out, convinced his players that there were minutes, that they were at the mercy of Liceo for a large part of the match and that they should continue on that path.

That’s how it was, Juan Copa despaired in the band while watching his team play and didn’t recognize him. He called his men to the fence and asked for calmness and simplicity in carrying out the attack.

It was of no use to him. Teixidó first warned, sending the ball into the 7-iron before the break, and a minute and a half later Bruno di Benedetto’s absurd penalty kick was used this time by the same player to equalize. With these 1-1 came the break.

Second time

The message that coach Verdiblanco delivered to his students at half-time had to be sharp. So much so that the picture offered, at least in the first minutes after the restart, was different.

He came out to command and he did. Thanks to that, the penalty arrived after six minutes, which Álex Rodríguez, this time, confirmed with the task for Miquel Estrada’s victory.

But far from using this goal to give them confidence, A Coruña’s men again fell into the error of haste, not knowing how to manage the game and at the mercy of Voltrega who, although he did not play on his court, seemed to because the Calafell sports center was a pressure cooker in favor of the blue and whites.

Minutes passed, Liceo still did not feel comfortable, Martí Serra had to intervene several times, and Voltregá tried from all sides and positions.

And Teixidó had it again six minutes before the end in the form of a penalty. He shot, stopped the Verdiblanco goalkeeper, picked up the rebound and tried to surprise him, but Serra held on, with one of the best interventions of the afternoon and ruined the opportunity.

Voltregá threw away the rest. He set everything on the right track. And there Licej really knew how to defend itself. Copa called his men again in the timeout to ask them for their heads, long possessions, not to take risks and not to be obsessed, even with counterattacks. So it came down to the last minute. Lluis Teixidó pulled the goalkeeper and decided to play five on four. The people of A Coruña suffered as few times as possible, but that’s where the verdiblanco gene came to the fore, the one reserved only for those who carry that historical and magical Liceo shield. Defense with teeth and nails. Suffering to the limit, but a happy ending. The prize, the possibility of winning the title for a team that has had seven changes this year, but always comes back to life.

Technical document

High School Sports (2); Martí Serra, Bruno di Benedetto, César Carballeira, Dava Torres, Álex Rodríguez —starting five—, Pol Manrubia, Fabri Ciocalle, Arnau Canal.

Voltrega (1): Miquel Estrada, Eric Vargas, Jordi Burgaya, Aleix Molas, Gerard Teixidó —starting five— Lluc Sitja, Didac Alonso, Xavi Armengol, Humbert Serra.

Goals: 1-0, min 13: Dava Torres; 1-1, min 10.30: Gerard Teixidó; 2-1, min 31: Álex Rodríguez

Referee: Sergi Mayor and Albert Barba. They showed the red Voltrega player Aleix Molas.

Incidents: A match corresponding to the first semi-final of the King’s Cup, played at the city’s Calafell sports centre