Barcelona won the first prize of the season on Saturday evening. Ronald Koeman’s team was very strong for Athletic Club in the final of the Copa del Rey, which won the Spanish Super Cup in January at the expense of the Catalans: 0-4. All hits in the Estadio La Cartuja in Seville came after the break. Frenkie de Jong, who played as a midfielder in Koeman’s 3-5-2 system, was one of the trendsetters with two assists and the 0-2. Lionel Messi competed in his possibly last final as Azulgrana two goals for his account.
Barcelona, where Antoine Griezmann was preferred over Ousmane Dembélé, dominated the first half from start to finish, although Athletic was well defended. The best chance for Koeman’s team took place after just five minutes of play. Lionel Messi returned the ball to the right side of the penalty area, after which a low bet by Frenkie de Jong ended up on the left post. Although Barcelona apparently easily reached Athletic’s penalty area and the Catalans had a whopping 83 percent possession in the first 45 minutes, even more great chances of a goal were missed.
FRENKIE DE JONG! 2-0! ?? After his assist on Griezmann, a little later he heads in the second for Barça himself ??#ZiggoSport #CopaDelRey #AthleticBarca pic.twitter.com/YylbT7xBXF
– Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) April 17, 2021
Athletic, in turn, barely came close to Marc-André ter Stegen’s goal area and, out of necessity, limited himself to holding back. Still, Barcelona got away well after about eleven minutes when Iñigo Martínez got the point of his foot against the ball after a long free kick and his attempt just went past the top left corner. Barcelona started the second half full of energy and Athletic only survived thanks to Unai Simón. The Basque goalkeeper impressed with saves on attempts by successively Griezmann, Pedri and Sergio Busquets.
However, Simón could not prevent Barcelona, with Sergiño Dest in the starting eleven, from finding its way to the 31st Copa del Rey in club history after less than an hour of play. After an excellent pass from De Jong from the right, Griezmann scored the 0-1 at the first post. Three minutes later it was the Dutchman who doubled the advantageous margin: Messi did not reach a cross from Jordi Alba, but De Jong dove and headed the ball in the goal mouth into the goal of Athletic.
Leo Messi! What a goal and 3-0 for Barça ?? Again an ‘assist’ from Frenkie de Jong ??? Ronald Koeman is almost certain of a prize in his first season in Spain ????#ZiggoSport #CopaDelRey #AthleticBarca pic.twitter.com/ienahMQCVv
– Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) April 17, 2021
Marcelino changed Athletic’s team in three places, but to no avail. After 68 minutes Barcelona came to 0-3 and again De Jong had a share. Messi combined with the the Dutch-international, got rid of Unai Núñez and shot his first of the evening. Four minutes later, the Alba-Messi connection struck: the fullback saw how Messi made the 0-4 from his pass. Losing the final is a hard blow for Athletic. Exactly two weeks ago, the Basques also lost the ever-postponed final battle of last season against Real Sociedad in the same place: 0-1.