Barcelona has been undergoing a late resurgence into this season, as they dominated the Copa Del Rey final, beating Athletic Bilbao 4-0 with Lionel Messi scoring twice. Apparently, the internal strife that has been quite at the forefront of most Spanish newspapers couldn’t deprive this Catalan club of extending their Copa Del Rey victory to number 31. Although they have crashed out of the Champions League, one trophy would be enough to bring back the old confidence.
Barcelona Wins Copa Del Rey For A Record 31 Times
The scoring for Barcelona in the Final was initiated by Antoine Griezmann who put in a cross from Frenkie de Jong sweetly into the back of the net. The Dutch midfielder then scored himself to double the lead. After that, it was the Lionel Messi show. The frontman of Barcelona for over a decade was subjected to a few rough tackles from the opposition, which he took revenge on by scoring a goal in the 68th minute. The goal was pure Messi nostalgia- cutting through the defenders to slot it in.
His next goal was a powerful shot into the bottom corner, courtesy of a Jordi Alba cross, which Unai Simon- the Goalkeeper of Athletic Bilbao couldn’t keep out. Griezmann put in another shot home, but it was ruled out offside, saving Bilbao from more embarrassment.
The captain of Barcelona, Lionel Messi was quite elated at being able to lift the cup again- in a year which has been difficult for the team. Needless to say, such victories would really boost the morale of the team to go ahead and secure the league title again. He mentioned that the team was prepared for the way Athletic Bilbao played- and all they had to do was be patient. Sure enough, when they did manage to get the ball- they made the opposition pay.