Barcelona finished its season on a high by capturing the Copa del Rey title to add to its Spanish league trophy won just a week ago.
Jordi Alba scored seven minutes into extra time and Neymar sealed the victory late to give Barcelona a 2-0 win over Sevilla for its second straight Copa del Rey title on Sunday.
After a goalless regulation time, Alba found the net with a low left-footed shot into the far corner after a superb long pass into the area by Lionel Messi.
“It’s a great way to end the season,” said Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta. “It was a wonderful season. We continued to add to the club’s history.”
It was the seventh time in team history that Barcelona won both domestic titles in the same season. For much of the season, Barcelona had hopes of repeating the treble from a year ago, when it also won the Champions League, but it was eliminated by Atletico Madrid in the quarterfinals of the European tournament.
Barcelona, which clinched its 24th Spanish league title last weekend, played with 10 men from the 36th minute after defender Javier Mascherano was sent off with a straight red card for pulling the jersey of Kevin Gameiro to keep the French striker from entering the area with only the goalkeeper to beat.
Sevilla, which won the Europa League final against Liverpool on Wednesday, also played the extra time with 10 men after midfielder Ever Banega was shown a straight red in second-half stoppage time for fouling Neymar just outside the area as the Brazilian tried to get into position to score. Sevilla further lost defender Daniel Carrico with two yellow cards just before Neymar’s goal late in the game at Atletico Madrid’s Vicente Calderon Stadium.
“Despite this loss, we end the season with our heads up,” Sevilla coach Unai Emery said.
No comments:
Post a Comment