Barcelona secured the Copa del Rey with an impressive 4-0 win over Athletic Bilbao tonight.
Four second-half goals capped off an incredible performance from the Catalan giants. Antoine Griezmann, Lionel Messi and Frenkie De Jong scored the goals for Barcelona.
Barcelona have won the Copa del Rey after putting on an incredible second-half performance against Athletic Bilbao to win 4-0.
After an uneventful first half, the Catalan giants turned on the style and completely outplayed Bilbao in the second half. Despite dominating the game from the start, Barcelona failed to get a goal in the first 45 minutes.
The Spanish giants ended the first half with 86% possession and seven shots to Athletic Bilbao’s one. Ronald Koeman managed to drill some efficiency into his side at the break and Barcelona came out snarling.
Griezmann converted from De Jong’s cross to score the opener and the former Ajax midfielder doubled his side’s advantage by heading home from Jordi Alba’s cross.
Lionel Messi scored the third with a sensational solo run. The 33-year-old picked up the ball in his own half and drove at the Bilbao defence. The Argentine star skipped past two players and played a one-two with De Jong and then beat another defender before slotting home.
Messi added the fourth in the 72nd minute.
The win tonight handed the Spanish outfit their first piece of silverware since 2019.
Frenkie de Jong was the star of the show
Despite a stunning brace from Lionel Messi, the young Dutch midfielder will take home the plaudits after a complete performance.
The midfielder controlled the tempo of the game with his passing and he worked hard defensively. Furthermore, De Jong also chipped in with two assists and a goal.
A trophy for Messi and a positive start for Laporta
Lionel Messi has been yearning for silverware for quite some time and tonight’s win will give him some much-needed relief.
It will be interesting to see if Barcelona’s return to winning ways can convince the Argentine to stay at the club beyond this summer.
Meanwhile, newly appointed president Joan Laporta vowed to get Barcelona back to their glory days and this is a great start for him.
Barcelona have shown great improvement since the turn of the year. They have won 18, drawn two, and lost just three games in 2021. They have kept ten clean sheets in that period as well.
A first trophy for @RonaldKoeman as coach of @FCBarcelona as they win the Copa del Rey. What a great job he’s doing, during what’s been a very difficult time for the club. Well played. Visca el Barça.
Line-ups
Athletic Bilbao
Unai Simón, Iñigo Martínez, Yeray (Unai Núñez), Mikel Balenziaga, Óscar de Marcos, Unai López (Yuri Berchiche), Dani García, Iker Muniain (Iñigo Lekue), Álex Berenguer (Mikel Vesga), Raúl García, Iñaki Williams (Asier Villalibre).
Substitute
Ander Capa, Jokin Ezkieta, Unai Vencedor, Jon Morcillo.
Barcelona
Marc-André ter Stegen, Gerard Pique (Ronald Araújo), Clément Lenglet, Óscar Mingueza (Martin Braithwaite), Sergio Busquets, Pedri (Ilaix Moriba), Frenkie de Jong, Jordi Alba, Sergiño Dest (Sergi Roberto), Antoine Griezmann (Ousmane Dembélé), Lionel Messi.
Substitute
Samuel Umtiti, Francisco Trincão, Inaki Pena, Arnau Urena Tenas.
