Barcelona have won the Spanish double for a second straight season after winning the Copa del Rey with a 1-0 overtime win over Sevilla at Vicente Calderón, thanks to goals from Jordi Alba and Neymar. In a very difficult game against the Europa League champs, the Blaugrana had plenty of trouble, including a sending off, but fought through all the adversity and conquered the Cup trophy a week after winning La Liga. The best in the world are double champions.
FIRST HALF
The game was exactly what one would expect from a final: hard fought, with not a lot of chances. Luis Suárez came close for Barça, and that was it for the Blaugrana, who had more possession but couldn't convert their domination into good opportunities.
Sevilla had good counter-attacking runs from Kevin Gameiro, and it was one of those runs that changed the game. Javier Mascherano had to pull down the French striker, who had a clear chance to score, and the Argentinean took one of the team as he was rightfully sent off for avoiding a Sevilla goal.
At halftime, a tightly contested affair, and Barça needing to find a way to win with ten men.
SECOND HALF
Coach Luis Enrique made one personnel change, bringing central defender Jérémy Mathieu to fix his back four. The rest of the team had a clear task: drop back and defend the box and make smart choices on offense to avoid silly mistakes that would result in a tough situation for the defense.
Because of the circumstances, the roles reversed in the final period: Sevilla became the team with more possession trying to create chances through positional play, while Barça tried to defend as much as they could and have few chances on the counter. Ever Banega hit the post just five minutes in, and Sevilla looked very close to their first goal.
Things got even worse for Barça when Luis Suárez had to leave the game with a thigh injury, and the mighty Blaugrana looked weaker and weaker. Somehow, someway, Barça found a way to keep the Sevillistas away from their goal with a monster performance from Gerard Piqué that kept the team alive.
Banega was sent off after a hard foul on Messi, and at the end of 90 minutes, a heroic performance by Barça went into overtime, and both teams were going to play the extra period with ten men.
EXTRA-TIME
When the numbers were equal, the talent from Barça got the advantage. Seven minutes into the first extra period, a spectacular pass from Lionel Messi picked up a beautiful run from Jordi Alba, and the full-back scored the goal with a calm finish.
The second half was going to feature a load of balls sent from Sevilla into Barça's box looking to find the head of Fernando Llorente. But they couldn't do it because Barça wasted time like an actual football team does it: not going to ground without being hurt, but keeping the ball and taking seconds away from the clock playing football. It led to another goal, when Messi found Neymar with a perfect pass, and the Brazilian put away the game and clinched the trophy.
And the referee blew his whistle for the last time, and the Catalan heroes celebrated. A spectacular win with dramatic circumstances, and a deserved title for the team that played better and never gave up. What a night to be a Barça fan.
Barcelona: Ter Stegen | Alves, Piqué, Mascherano, Alba (Roberto) | Busquets, Rakitic (Mathieu), Iniesta | Messi, Suárez (Rafinha), Neymar
Goal: Alba (97'), Neymar (120')
Sevilla: Sergio Rico | Mariano (Konoplyanka), Carriço, Rami, Escudero | Krychowiak, Iborra | Coke, Banega, Vitolo | Gameiro
from Barca Blaugranes - All Posts http://ift.tt/1YPykuo
0 التعليقات:
إرسال تعليق