Gonzalez apology for cup defeat

The loss saw Athletic progress 3-1 on aggregate to the Copa del Rey final, where they will face Barcelona on May 30.

Espanyol had high hopes of reaching their first Copa final since 2006 after holding Athletic to a 1-1 draw in the opening leg in Bilbao last month.

However, their expectations were dashed after first-half goals from Aritz Aduriz and Xabier Etxeita sent Athletic through to their third cup final in the last seven years.

"I want to apologise to our fans for not giving the performance we had all hoped for," Gonzalez told the Spanish press.

"We struggled from the start and Athletic were better than us. They looked more confident and although we tried to react after going 2-0 down, it was not to be.

"We are gutted. We were really looking forward to reaching the final."

Espanyol had ousted Alaves, Valencia and Sevilla to reach the last four of the competition.

"It has been a great ride while it has lasted and considering what we did in the past, we would have deserved to have gone through to the final," Gonzalez said. "But we leave with our heads held high.

"There is nothing we can do now except look forward and focus on the league.

"Your learn and improve from defeats and we will try to make amends in the Primera Division.

"We will look to turn the page and go into Sunday's game in the best possible condition."

Espanyol have won two of their last three league games and are ninth in the Spanish top flight.

The Catalan outfit travels to Anoeta to face Real Sociedad this weekend.