Magical Messi leads Barcelona past Sevilla in Copa del Rey final
Down a man and with top goal scorer Luis Suarez on the sidelines with an apparent hamstring injury, Lionel Messi led Barcelona to a 2-0 extra-time victory in an eventful Copa del Rey final that featured three red cards, two Messi assists and one bizarre game stoppage for the cramping match referee.
When the final whistle blew, though, Messi stood out as the best player in the park.
Sunday’s match did not start off looking like a day to celebrate for the Catalan club. Argentine defender Javier Mascherano took down Sevilla striker Kevin Gameiro in the 34th minute to receiver the fastest red card in the history of the Spanish Cup final, according to the ESPN television broadcast.
When Ever Banega struck the post with his long range effort in the 50th minute, Barcelona appeared to be on its way to concluding the season in forgettable fashion. Making matters worse was an injur to Suarez, who hobbled off less than an hour into the match with an apparent hamstring injury that could put his involvement in the Copa America with Uruguay in jeopardy.
However, Andres Iniesta and Messi offered special magical performances. Messi played a perfectly timed pass for Neymar in stoppage time of regulation, and Banega put in a fateful, last-ditch tackle to stop the Brazilian from getting in on goal unmarked. Banega succeeded in stopping the attack, but as the last defender, the midfield maestro saw red.
Suddenly, Barcelona and Sevilla were both down to 10 men with 30 minutes of added time to come. Considering Gerard Pique’s clean clearances in the back, Sergio Busquets’ tireless tackling in the middle and Messi’s and Iniesta’s magical inspiration in the attack, Barcelona being back level put the Catalans in complete control from that point forward.
In the 97th minute, Messi found Jordi Alba with a perfectly weighted ball over the top of the Sevilla’s defense. The left back managed to beat the keeper from a sharp angle, but Messi’s second incisive pass of the game had now provided Barcelona the advantage and clear view to completing the domestic double.
Messi’s influence did not only arrive with his passing. Daniel Carrico’s challenge on the Argentine drew a second yellow and put Sevilla down to nine men with eight minutes remaining in extra time. In effect, Messi had disqualified two of Sevilla’s players and assisted on the pass that gave Barcelona the lead.
As an encore, the little magician from Rosario set up Neymar with a perfectly timed pass that beat Sevilla’s offside trap. Neymar made no mistake as he slotted home to clinch a 2-0 Barcelona victory. In truth, Barcelona could have scored a couple more had Sevilla goalkeeper Sergio Rico not been in rare form.
With the win, Messi and Barcelona earned the club’s 28th Copa del Rey crown to go with its 24th La Liga title. The double salvaged a season that had started strong, peaked with a 39-match unbeaten run and nearly collapsed over a three-week period that featured four defeats in five games.
But the season was indeed a success, and Sunday’s triumph confirmed it. Thanks to another Copa del Rey final dominated by Lionel Messi, one of the greatest players of all time.
){kind=link}
I like leonel
Why did they played so long? ?
2 super assist from messi
Anyone know the intro song right at the beginning of the video ?
Forca barca
I still don't understand why Mascherano get red card, I think it should yellow card
Siempre messii
Dani Alves last game
1 20 bad miss by Suarez , Suarez had a bad match , in my opinion he’s formed has dipped since Real Madrid beat them at camp nou on April 2nd , that had a lot to do with piques horror show ,but I don’t think Suarez is the same player since around April 16 , Real Madrid who had a really poor team that season and a lot of luck in the draw sneaked the champions league that season on penalty’s against atletico who bottled it again when Madrid who got an offside goal were there for the taking ,Barcelona were very poor in 16 / 17 Neymar and Suarez never showed up , you could tell Barca never got over Real sneaking the champions league, in 16 /17 Madrid’s lucky champions league win gave them confidence to better themselves in 16 /17 , I would say they were a better team than the year before but by no means world beaters ,Barca handed them La Liga and they in the champions league set it up that they would finish 2nd in the group so they would avoid the best teams like psg who finished 2nd also .they and uefa robbed Bayern Munich with a corrupt Hungarian ref who was as bad as Mark clattenburg in the previous champions league final , atletico were obviously gonna bottle it again against them , and they needed 2 deflected goals to take the heart out of juventus and Sergio Ramos cheating to get them down to 10 men . Real might be the best at the moment but I think their lucky ,cheaters and get a lot of help from the corrupt uefa. Barca already have La Liga in 2018 but they won’t relax until the champions league is retained
barcelona barcelona
if we win the copa this year then it will be 3 copa del rays / 2 leagues 1 UCL / 1 club world cup / 1 uefa Super cup 1 spanish super cup in 3 years not bad
jecliyaa ciyaartano kale
the ref was spot on
fcb is best visca varcaa!
El Barça también puede ganar finales con uno menos y jugando a la heroica. Sublime Iniesta y gran partido de Neymar. Una copa que ha sido rápidamente eliminada de nuestras memorias e infravalorada pero que los barcelonistas de verdad supimos valorar. Gracias por el vídeo.
La única final a la que he asistido,espero poder asistir algún día a una final de champions.
Mess I father of all
Dani Alves last game :'(
gracias por el momento en que se ha me
go bracilona
I love you barsloner