Magical Messi Guides Barca To 31st Spanish Cup Title
18 April, 2021
Copa del Rey Final
Result: Athletic Bilbao 0-4 FC Barcelona
Date: 17 April 2021
Venue: Estadio Olímpico de Sevilla
FC Barcelona were crowned 2020/21 Copa del Rey champions after trouncing Athletic Bilbao 4-0, with superstar Lionel Messi bagging a brace on Saturday evening.
Barca made two changes from the El Clasico loss to Real Madrid, as Gerard Pique and Antoine Griezmann were recalled while Bilbao were playing their second straight Copa del Rey final inside a fortnight, losing last year's final played at the start of the month to Real Sociedad.
Frenkie De Jong came near giving Blaugrana a dream begin in the sixth minute with a side-footed shot in the box from Messi's cut-back that came off the post.
Ronald Koeman's charges were holding Bilbao within their own half nevertheless they were not clinical before goal, with shot-stopper Unai Simon needing to cope with comfortable efforts.
Barca upped their tempo coming following the break and Griezmann should have given them the lead 3 minutes within the second stanza after getting a cut-back from Sergino Dest in the six-yard box but he was denied by Simon, who made an excellent save.
After Segio Busquets' missed a golden chance, Griezmann finally broke the deadlock for Barca on the hour-mark with a close-range finish after acquiring a square pass from De Jong.
De Jong got an objective to go with his assist for Blaugrana 3 minutes later with a header past Simon from Jordi Alba's cross.
Messi added the 3rd goal for Koeman's troops in the 68th minute after exchanging passes with De Jong to undergo on goal to find the bottom corner.
The Argentine quickly made it 4-0 for the Catalan giants with a minimal strike from the edge of the box after acquiring a cut-back from Alba, who exchanged passes with Griezmann to undergo on goal.
Griezmann thought he had got a fifth goal Barca within the last four minutes, but the goal was disallowed by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for offside as the four goals were enough to hand the Blaugrana the Spanish Cup title.
Source: www.soccerladuma.co.za
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