Valencia on Saturday beat Barcelona 2-1 to win the Copa del Rey, ending the Catalans’ four-year winning streak in the competition and denying them a domestic double.
Kevin Gameiro and Rodrigo Moreno struck first-half goals to give Marcelino’s dominant Valencia control of the final in Seville’s sweltering Estadio Benito Villamarin.
Record 30-time Copa del Rey winners Barcelona struggled without injured forwards Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele, but Lionel Messi pulled the Catalans back into the game with a close-range finish.
Photo: AFP
Goncalo Guedes missed a golden opportunity in stoppage-time for Valencia, but they held on to win their first major trophy since last lifting the Copa del Rey in 2008.
“I’m so happy because for me, my family, it’s incredible,” Valencia captain Dani Parejo said. “A club like Valencia deserves a lot more joy like this. I don’t have the words, it’s incredible. We’ve made history in a really significant year, our centenary year.”
Valencia finished fourth in La Liga after a strong second half of the season, reaching the UEFA Europa League semi-finals and ending an impressive campaign with this victory.
By contrast, Barcelona’s campaign collapsed in the past two weeks as they threw away a three-goal UEFA Champions League semi-final lead to be eliminated by Liverpool before letting the Copa del Rey slip out of their hands.
Barcelona were bidding to lift themselves from their humiliation on Merseyside by securing the ninth domestic double in their history, but despite Messi’s efforts, they were overrun by a determined and well-drilled Valencia side.
Gerard Pique was forced to clear Rodrigo’s effort off the line before Gameiro blasted Marcelino’s side ahead in the 22nd minute after good work from Jose Luis Gaya.
Barcelona failed to create openings and Rodrigo headed in the second point after Carlos Soler whipped a ball across the face of the goal.
Messi struck the post with a delightful outside-of-the-boot effort before slotting home the rebound when Jaume Domenech saved Clement Lenglet’s header.
It was Messi’s 51st goal of the season — but the effort was not enough.
“Valencia are worthy champions and it’s also been a good year for us,” Pique said.
“It’s always a good year when you win La Liga, but the expectation was to have an even better year and that has not been the case. The season ends with a bittersweet feeling, because it could have been better,” Pique added. “We aren’t worrying about the manager’s future, we must analyse ourselves and try to improve. The other decisions aren’t in our hands, but we’ve said more than once that we would like him to stay on.”
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