Defending champions Barcelona beat Sevilla 2-0 in extra time to lift their 28th Copa del Rey title at the Vicente Calderon in Madrid on Sunday night. Both sides saw a man sent off for making last-man tackles in normal time and nothing separated the two until Jordi Alba and Neymar scored in extra time to give Barcelona the win.
Squads
Barcelona: Ter Stegan, Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Alba, Rakitic, Iniesta, Busquets, Neymar, Messi, Suarez
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Sevilla: Rico, Mariano, Carrico, Rami, Escudero, Iborra, Krychowiak, Coke, Banega, Vitolo, Gameiro
Sevilla work Barcelona at both ends of the pitch
If Barcelona were tagged the favourites before the game, they were certainly made to earn that tag in the opening stages of the game. While they did see more of the ball, they had the physicality of Sevilla to contend with. Barcelona looked to attack through their famed trio of Messi, Suarez and Neymar while Sevilla only looked to utilise the pace of Gameiro.
And the Frenchman almost had a chance in the first five minutes when he managed to beat Alves to get on the end of a pass before Pique made himself available to make a clearance in the box. Moments later, Iniesta bypassed the Sevilla defence with a chip which saw Suarez take a driving shot that went wide of the post.
Sevilla had yet another chance to go ahead in the 18th minute when Vitolo managed to get the better of Alba on the right before cutting the ball back to Coke. After grabbing a brace in the Europa League final just days ago, he had a chance to score in a major final yet again but mistimed his effort and watched it fly across goal.
If Sevilla were creating chances up front, they were equally good in their own half to keep Barcelona at bay. Every time Luis Enrique's men poured forward, they were frustrated near the box with some terrific defending that saw Krychowiak and Banega also putting in fine tackles to halt Barcelona’s progress.
Mascherano gets a straight red card
Then came the turning point. Just after the half-hour mark, Gameiro looked to sprint past Javier Mascherano to get to the ball flicked on by Iborra. Just as Gameiro looked to get into the area, the Argentine defender brought him down by tugging at his shirt.
While Gameiro appealed for a penalty as he fell into the box, the referee only awarded a free-kick a yard away from the box but went into his pocket to produce a red card. A number of Barcelona players protested but Mascherano knew he had tried to take one for the team and risked it all in a last-man tackle.
The free-kick from Banega looked destined to hit the underside of the crossbar before Ter Stegen made a fingertip save to nudge it over the bar. However, with Barcelona down to 10 men, they almost took the lead at the other end when Gerard Pique met Rakitic’s corner kick with a towering header but saw his shot miss the target with goalkeeper Rico rooted to the spot.
Half-time: Barcelona 0-0 Sevilla
Barcelona lose Luis Suarez to injury
Down to 10 men and with Sevilla threatening to exploit their man advantage, Enrique sacrificed Rakitic and brought on Jeremy Mathieu to shore up the defence. But it was Pique who was kept busy inside the box.
Five minutes into the second half, Sevilla almost had their breakthrough after patiently probing Barcelona in the final third. Banega found some space and time to get a shot off from outside the box and the low shot was on target before Pique stuck his foot out and deflected it onto the post to deny Sevilla a 1-0 lead.
Barcelona had a scare five minutes later when Messi went down after clashing heads with Carrico. Messi had tried to make a run into the box to meet Alba’s cross but the Portuguese centre-back got to it just in time before knocking Messi down on the follow through. Although slightly shaken up, Messi managed to continue.
But the worst was yet to come as Luis Suarez had to be substituted moments later after picking up an injury. The 29-year-old striker stretched to control a ball and ended up hurting his hamstring, a worrying sign for Uruguay ahead of Copa America.
Sevilla go down to 10 men before extra-time
Meanwhile, Sevilla’s pressure was relentless and they had Barcelona by the scruff of their necks for a while with Pique saving the day time and again; either with dispossessing tackles or by throwing his body on the line. Barcelona struggled to create any attacks of their own without a spare man in midfield.
Barcelona did create a few opportunities, though, mostly from free-kicks. One such move saw Iniesta suddenly accelerate and charge through the defence before he was brought down hard by Vitolo. But Messi was unable to reproduce the magic from the UEFA Super Cup at the start of the season when he converted not one but two free-kicks from similar positions.
As the second half wore on, Barcelona upped the ante and suddenly looked nothing like a side down to 10 men. They hassled Sevilla when they lost the ball and continued to take advantage of Sevilla’s high line. On one such instance, Neymar broke through and tugged Banega’s shirt before taking a tumble. The referee was not to be fooled, though, and booked the Brazilian for simulation.
But Neymar got his reward a minute later when he was tripped up by Banega in what was a deja vu of the previous move. The referee did not hesitate and pulled out the second red card of the night to send him straight off after which Messi failed to find the target yet again.
Alba and Neymar give Barcelona the win
Sergio Rico had brought his A-game to the final and kept Sevilla in the game with a string of fine saves. Barcelona peppered his goal from long range and free-kicks and he was up to the task each and every time.
Until Messi and Alba combined to score a great goal.
While Messi had control of the ball near the centre circle, he spotted Alba making a run into the box from the left and the Argentine forward nonchalantly lobbed the ball into the box. Jordi Alba allowed it to bounce before taking a left-footed shot across goal that beat Rico and found the inside of the net to give Barcelona a deserved lead.
There were a lot of tired legs out there by the end and even the referee needed a bit of the magic spray after he pulled a muscle. Ultimately, the game petered out with chances coming few and far between with Rico, arguably the man of the match, ensuring Barcelona did not get another.
The game then descended into a farce when Carrico was booked for a foul on Messi and received a second booking seconds later for arguing with the referee. That was enough for Sevilla to lose their composure and allow Messi to provide yet another assist as Neymar put the finishing touches to beat Rico with a low curling shot into the far corner.
2-0. Game over. Barcelona finished the season with a double.
