Barcelona gave Pep Guardiola a fitting end to his glittering four-year reign as coach, winning the King’s Cup final against Athletic Bilbao 3-0 on Friday to send him off with a 14th trophy under his arm.
Pedro scored a brace and the outstanding player of the Guardiola era, World Player of the Year Lionel Messi, added the other to finish with an unprecedented 73 goals in all competitions this season.
Guardiola hands over to his assistant Tito Vilanova for next season, as he goes off to recharge his batteries after winning three consecutive La Liga titles, two Champions League crowns in 2009 and last year, and two King’s Cups.
Photo: AFP
His 14 trophies matches Johan Cruyff’s tally from eight years as Barca coach and of the 19 competitions he has competed in, it is easier to list the five he has failed to snare.
Guardiola lost the King’s Cup final 1-0 after extra-time against Real Madrid last year and made a last-16 exit in 2010. He twice fell in the Champions League semi-finals to eventual winners Inter Milan and Chelsea.
In the league, Barca only lost out to Real to finish second earlier this month, after Jose Mourinho’s side broke the league points and goal-scoring record to top the standings.
“Winning 14 titles in four years is very difficult and we are very satisfied,” a beaming Guardiola told a news conference.
“This has been the best year, in which we have made the most progress tactically. During the first few years it was all energy and fireworks. I watch matches from our first season and we made more mistakes,” he said.
Asked if he thought his side were the best in history, he added: “It would be presumptuous to say something like that. I know we have left behind some good memories and that people will remember that they had a good time. Anything else is just words.”
For Bilbao, it completed a miserable end to a season in which they had thrilled with their dynamic brand of attacking football.
They reached the Europa League final, seeing off Manchester United and Schalke 04 along the way, to be crushed 3-0 by Atletico Madrid two weeks ago, before the heartache of a second final defeat, by the same score.
They take away the consolation of a place in the Europa League next season as the losing finalists, with Barca already qualified for the Champions League again.
“I thank the fans for their generosity,” Bilbao coach Marcelo Bielsa said in reference to fans’ chants for him to stay after the final whistle, though he gave little away on his future at his post-match news conference.
“I already said that once the season was over, two parties would sit down to evaluate whether the coaching staff that I lead will continue or not,” he said.
As expected, a shortened version of the Spanish national anthem before kickoff was met with a cacophony of whistles from the Basque and Catalan nationalists among the fans.
That was quickly forgotten in a whirlwind opening at a festive Vicente Calderon Stadium in Madrid.
Messi curled a shot past the post in the first minute and Pedro had an effort deflected wide for a corner, which led to the opening goal in only the third minute.
The diminutive forward swept in a loose ball in front of the ecstatic Barca fans.
Andres Iniesta slipped a ball through for Messi to score the second, the Argentine smashing a shot high into the net from a tight angle in the 20th minute and Bilbao were finished off soon after.
Pedro fired in a curling shot to end the game as a contest and boosted his chances of a call-up to Spain’s final 23-man squad for Euro 2012, which Vicente del Bosque is due to announce today.
Barca reserve goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto, who always plays instead of Victor Valdes in the Cup, made a couple of saves before the break, but Bilbao faded away as Barca hogged possession.
The victory set up a tough debut for Barca’s incoming coach Vilanova, who will now take on archrivals and league champions Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup in August, the traditional curtain-raiser to the new season.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care