Unionistas consummate the great surprise of the Cup against Villarreal on penalties

The round of 16 of the Cup will feature Unionistas, a First Federation team (13th in Group One), who defeated an entire Villarreal team after an exciting penalty shootout. Up to 16 penalties had to be taken after the one-on-one match was maintained after the match resumed in extra time. Suspended when the power went out this Sunday and resumed on Monday afternoon, the final 7-6 on penalties and the classification of the Unionistas returned to the Cup its unpredictable character. After a round of 32 round without too many surprises, the presence of the humble team from Salamanca along with Tenerife returns a certain epicness to the round of 16. The round was very exciting. Alberto Moreno missed Villarreal's second shot and Reina restored parity with a great save from Alfred's shot. It was 4-4 until sudden death and an error by Kiko Femenía in his team's eighth penalty unleashed joy at the Reina Sofía stadium. The ball went very high and the Unionistas players celebrated the classification in style.

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Iván Martínez, Ramiro, Sergio Camus (Erik Ruiz, min. 45), Carlos Giménez, Ekaitz Jiménez, Juan Serrano, Javi Villar, Nespral (Adri, min. 90), Álvaro Gómez, Mario Losada (Alfred Planas, min. 84) and Slavy

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Reina, Adrià Altimira (Kiko Femenía, min. 105), Alberto Moreno (Trigueros, min. 90), Eric Bailly (Coquelin, min. 68), Jorge Cuenca, Ilias Chakkour (Alberto Moreno, min. 110), Parejo (Stefan Lekovic, min. 76), Gerard Moreno, Comesaña, Álex Baena (Ramón Terrats, min. 68) and Morales (Sörloth, min. 69)

Goals 0-1 min. 81: Ilias Chakkour. 1-1 min. 86: Alfred Planas.

Referee Mateo Busquets Ferrer

Yellow cards Sergio Camus (min. 10), Parejo (min. 14), Ekaitz Jiménez (min. 62), Jorge Cuenca (min. 73), Comesaña (min. 85), Sörloth (min. 89), Ramón Terrats (min. 100), Coquelin (min. 108) and Ramiro (min. 110)

The elimination is a significant blow for Villarreal, which is not doing too well in the League, where it occupies 13th position, far from the European positions. He has the important consolation of the Europa League, a competition that will resume in the knockout phase next March. Marcelino García Toral has a lot of work ahead of him.

The match resumed in extra time after the 1-1 score at the end of 90 minutes in Sunday's duel. Just then, the stadium lighting failed and the match had to be suspended. The resumption was very emotional on Monday afternoon. A stadium full despite the time (4:30 p.m.) and with free entry for fans. Many children came to the field directly from school. In added time of half an hour, Villarreal had a great chance in the 100th minute, when a foul by Gerard Moreno hit the crossbar of the goal defended by Iván Martínez. Unionistas also had an important chance in the 110th minute, when centre-back Lekovic made a comeback after a false start by Reina.

Without goals, it went to penalties. The Unionistas players' pulse did not tremble and they had a magnificent duel with the Villarreal players. The team from Salamanca won and, in this way, the great surprise of this edition of the Cup was consummated. A First Federation team (third category of Spanish football) will be in the round of 16 of a tournament that recovered a good part of it at the Reina Sofía. of its essence: emotion, triumph of the small team and a great atmosphere in the stands.

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