• Semi-final first leg: Atlético Madrid 4-0 Barcelona

• E Garcia 7og, Griezmann 14, Lookman 33, Alvarez 45+2

You must always have faith, Diego Simeone had said and so it was. A biblical storm blew through the Metropolitano, leaving Barcelona torn to pieces and Atlético Madrid closer to a first Copa del Rey final in 13 years than even he could ever have believed. Forty-five extraordinary minutes gave them a 4-0 lead to take to the second leg at the Camp Nou in three weeks’ time. An own goal from Eric Garcia and three more, from Ademola Lookman, Antoine Griezmann and Julián Alvarez before the half-time whistle did the kind of damage that only a miracle can repair now.

Barcelona could not even begin to fix it here in a second half in which they had a goal ruled out after seven long minutes waiting on the VAR not bringing any more goals. They then had Eric Garcia sent off late on. It was a wonder they were still standing at all, given what had hit them from the very start.

• Final: Barcelona 3-2 Real Madrid (aet)
• Pedri 28 Torres 84, Koundé 116; Mbappé 70, Tchouaméni

It was late, and they were tired, but with four minutes left and long after midnight in Seville Jules Koundé found the strength to send a shot flying into the net and the Barcelona fans behind the goal into raptures. The fireworks were lit and the men in blue and red sprinted towards him from all sides of this stadium: here, at last, it was. The Copa del Rey final, a first clásico final in 11 years, had a winner. They had been a goal up and a goal down, they had thought they had a last-minute penalty to win it, but now the Catalan side had done it. Real Madrid had fought and rebelled, but eventually they were defeated 3-2.

You might call it a game of two halves, but there were four of them, and they had been superb. They also had an unlikely man there at the heart of a decisive moment: Pedri, Kylian Mbappé, Aurélien Tchouaméni and Ferran Torres had all scored and now it was Koundé who did. It had also had a very, very likely man standing in the middle of what might have been the decisive moment: after all the talk about referees, after Madrid had boycotted pre-match activities and the threat that they might boycott the game itself, it was indeed the officials who took the spotlight at the decisive moment.

• Updates from the 9pm BST kick-off at La Cartuja
• Contact Luke McLaughlin | Live scores around Europe

“ There are still no events for this match ,” states the live page on the official Copa del Rey website . Oh, you couldn’t be more wrong.

So did Barney Ronay, in typically excellent fashion:

• Real Madrid 4-4 Real Sociedad (agg 5-4)
• Defender heads dramatic extra-time winner

At one minute past midnight a self-declared madman sent the Santiago Bernabéu into a state of delirium and Real Madrid into the final of the Copa del Rey. El Loco leapt above the Real Sociedad defence and into the stands at the north end of this stadium, where supporters had seen their team go and do it again, their way. It had been long, it had been wild, and at the end of the night, somehow they were the ones celebrating, which it seems they always are. Madrid did not win and were not always very good until they were irresistible, but it was enough.

Three times they had trailed but ultimately a draw, secured by the thumping forehead of Antonio Rüdiger in the 115th minute was enough. A game that went from 0-1 to 1-1, 1-3 to 3-3, and then 3-4 finally finished 4-4 deep into extra time.

This season’s FA Cup has thrown up plenty of upsets, but there are more fairytales being written on the continent

If you’re looking for cup magic, nowhere can match the Coupe de France in recent years. In the past three decades, Guingamp, in 2009, may be the only second-tier winners but 10 teams from outside Ligue 1 have reached the final since 2006, and five of those were from the third tier or lower. There could be another this year, with Cannes, who play in France’s regionalised fourth tier, making it to the final four. They have played eight matches to get this far without facing a top-flight side, but have dispatched three Ligue 2 teams – Grenoble, Lorient and Guingamp – at home.